Furman has circulation agreements with most colleges and universities in South Carolina, including Bob Jones University, Clemson, the College of Charleston, Greenville Tech, North Greenville College, the University of South Carolina system, and Wofford. In order to check books out from the Furman university library, students and faculty from most colleges must FIRST go to the circulation desk at their institution's library to get a South Carolina Library Borrowing Card. Check with your library about how to get access to the Furman library. Students from most South Carolina colleges may have two books checked out from the Furman library at one time. Some items, such as periodicals, rare books, reference books, curriculum materials, etc., do not circulate. Students from other colleges may not check out videos, compact discs, or other media items from the Furman libraries.

Furman also has circulation agreements with Davidson, Duke, and Johnson C. Smith in North Carolina as members of the Duke Endowment Libraries group. Students and faculty from these institutions can check items out from Furman using their student ID's.

If you want to save yourself a trip and have a little time, your library can get books from Furman or any library for you via Interlibrary Loan. Interlibrary loan materials usually take 5-10 days to arrive.

Due Dates

You can keep most books checked out for 21 days. If a book is on reserve for a class, the loan period may be shorter. If you need a book for longer than 21 days, you can usually renew it.

Renewing Books

If you need a book for longer than the normal loan period, you can renew it online, over the phone, or in person. To see what you have checked out, when it is due, and renew online, you will need the barcode number from your Palacard. To renew by phone, you can call the main library circulation desk at 294-2265, music library at 294-3795 or science library at 294-2455 whenever they are open. Note that if a professor has put an item on reserve for a class, or if someone else has requested it during the time you have had it checked out, you cannot renew it, and you have to return it to the library for them to use.

Overdues and Fines

The overdue fine for books that are not returned or renewed by the due date is 10 cents per day. The fine for overdue reserve items is $1 per HOUR. The library sends out overdue notices, but that does not mean items are not due until you receive a notice. If for some reason you do not receive a notice, you are still obligated to return items on time or pay overdue fines. Students who do not return items after 70 days will be billed for the estimated cost of the item plus a $15.00 replacement processing fee. Fines and charges incurred will be reported to the student's home institution which may bar them from checking out books, registering for classes, receiving a diploma, or requesting transcripts.