Checkout Policies

ELIGIBILITY TO BORROW ITEMS
The Bloomingdale Public Library provides access to a wide variety of items for the benefit of the residents of the Village of Bloomingdale. Individuals who reside within the Village of Bloomingdale boundaries are welcome to borrow items from the library’s collection, as long as they possess a library card and their accounts are in good standing. In addition, under the Illinois Intersystem Reciprocal Borrowing Covenant, cardholders from the Bloomingdale Public Library who are considered to be in good standing may also borrow items from many public libraries throughout the state of Illinois upon registration of their Bloomingdale Public Library card at the individual public library.

The library considers patron accounts in good standing to be:

• Free of fines/fees for any items in excess of $5.00;
• Up-to-date. Library accounts should have current information including address, phone number, email, expiration date, etc.;
• Free of any other problems/issues on the cardholder’s account as noted in the library’s database.

Individuals presenting library cards issued by a public library other than the Bloomingdale Public Library, are eligible to borrow items from the library and must meet the same requirements as Bloomingdale Public Library cardholders as outlined above. Please refer to the Reciprocal Borrower section of the “Patron Use of the Library” policy.

If a library account does not meet the above criteria for accounts in good standing, library staff may not waive the regulations as outlined above without the specific permission of the Circulation Department Head or his/her designee. The patron may, however, request and receive a twenty-four (24) hour hold on the item(s) he or she wishes to check out to allow the patron to correct the situation, which may have resulted in loss of eligibility to borrow on an individual’s account. Waiver of these regulations will be granted only if proof of mitigating circumstances and proof of attempts to correct the situation are presented to the Circulation Department Head or his/her designee.

LOAN PERIODS
The library’s loan period for most items is 21 days. Some items may have a loan period of 3, 7, or 14 days (Appendix E). Check the Loan Periods, Checkout Limits, and Fines Chart for more information. Upon a patron’s request, extended loan periods for vacations may be made at the discretion of a circulation staff member. Items secured for a patron on Interlibrary Loan are governed by the circulation policies of the home library and must be returned to the home library on time.

LIMITS ON BORROWING
The library reserves the right to limit the number of items in any one subject area and any material type that may be checked out to an individual patron on the basis of perceived demand for items (Appendix E). Audiovisual equipment may be checked out directly at the circulation desk and some items may be restricted to patrons age 18 and over unless a parent/legal guardian is present. At the request of the parent/guardian, access to feature films, video games, and Internet access may be restricted for minor patrons (under the age of 18). Parents/legal guardians may indicate their preference at the time of application, or request a form to update their child’s account at any time by speaking to a circulation staff member.