Avoid fines this summer

Refresh your recall policy knowledge before traveling

Woman reading on benchIf you’re traveling this summer — especially out of state or out of the country — make sure to return your MIT Libraries books before you go or to put them in an area where a colleague or friend has access. Your due dates can change if someone else requests the item, because we at the MIT Libraries want to make sure that everyone has equal access to our materials. That includes people doing research on campus between semesters.

All 60-day loan items are guaranteed to be yours for two weeks. After that, if anyone requests the book, you’ll have a week to bring it back. Mailing it from another state gets expensive, especially with insurance to make sure that it arrives safely! Mailing it from another country is usually not worth it. Either way, you’ll be responsible for any late fees accumulated until it gets checked back in.

It’s also a good idea to check whether you’re running low on renewals. The 5-renewal limit for faculty, students, and staff allows you to keep items for approximately a calendar year without bringing it back, but with our auto-renewal system, it can be easy to lose track of how many renewals are left. If you’re going to run out over the summer, you can bring the items in now and have us check them in and then check them right back out again to re-start your renewal count. (This also restarts the initial two-week period.)

You can check all due dates, available renewals, and statuses of loaned items at any time by logging into Your Account. Our Circulation FAQ has more details about our circulation and fine policies.