Library Regulations

Policy on Use of IT Services and Facilities

1. Preamble

1.1.	The Library of City University is established with the primary aim of supporting the teaching and research activities in City University. These regulations have been formulated to enable staff and students to maximize the use of the Library.
1.2.	These regulations are applicable to regular patrons of the Run Run Shaw Library on the City University Main Campus and also to users of the Shatin Branch Library. Library at Telford Annex is open to students of Telford Annex and academic staff members of the University only. Students of Telford Annex should refer to their specific library guide for Library Regulations applicable to them.

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2. Opening and Counter Service Hours

Library opening and counter service hours are posted at the entrance to the Library and are also available on the Library Home Page at http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/about/hours.htm. In accordance with the demand for library use and staff availability, the opening and counter service hours may vary.

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3. Admission to the Library

3.1.

Admission to the Library will be permitted only upon presenting a valid card of the following categories or special approval from the Librarian: (Cards are not transferable; any misuse is a serious disciplinary offence and will be dealt with accordingly - Penalties for misuse of Student Identity Cards are listed in Appendix II.)

3.1.1.

City University Identity Card - Staff, Student, Family

3.1.2.

Alumni Library Ticket - Reader (see 3.2.) #

3.1.3.

Alumni Library Ticket - Borrower (see 3.2.)

3.1.4.

Friends of the Library Membership Card (see 3.3.)*

3.1.5.

Borrower's Ticket for Members of Departmental Advisory Committees (see 3.4.1.)

3.1.6.

Borrower's Ticket for long-serving staff members and their spouses who possess the Courtesy Identity Card issued by the University (see 3.4.2.)

3.1.7.

Borrower's Ticket (fee-based) for students of non-CityU award bearing courses run by the Departments or for individual users recommended by Departments (see 3.4.3.)

3.1.8.

Reader's Ticket

3.1.9.

JULAC (Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee) Library Card

a.	Staff (Borrower)
b.	Postgraduate Student (Borrower) #
c.	Undergraduate Student (Reader) #

3.1.10.

Any other person approved by the Librarian on a discretionary basis

#	For these categories of users, access to the Library will be limited to non-busy hours of the day only when the Library imposes the Partial Access arrangement, normally, during the Revision and Examination Periods of Semester A and B of each academic year. For details, please refer to http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/about/blackout.htm.
*	For Corporate Membership of the Friends of the Library, each membership card entitles only one person to visit the Library at any one time.

3.2.

Alumni Library Ticket

3.2.1.	Alumni Library Tickets with either reader or borrower privileges are issued only to alumni with City University of Hong Kong academic awards upon the completion of application formalities and the payment of a subscription fee.
3.2.2.	Alumni may also choose the Alumni e-Resources Service which offers remote access to selected Library subscribed electronic resources.
3.2.3.	Details on Alumni Library Services are available at: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/service/alumni/index.htm

3.3.

Friends of the Library

Outsiders may join the Library as members of the Friends of the Library to enjoy reader or borrower privileges under different membership categories. Details are available at:
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/service/fol/

3.4.

Borrower's Ticket

3.4.1.	Members of Departmental Advisory Committees may apply for the Borrower's Ticket free of charge.
3.4.2.	Long serving staff members and their spouses who possess the Courtesy Card issued by the University may apply for the Borrower's Ticket. A deposit of HK$500 is required for each Borrower's Ticket issued. Application for the ticket is to be made at the Circulation Counter of the Library. Applicant will be requested to produce their Courtesy Card to support their application.
3.4.3.	Students of non-CityU award bearing courses run by Departments and individual users with recommendations from Departments will be issued with the Borrower's Ticket (fee-based) upon formal application and approval from the Librarian on a discretionary basis.

3.5.

Loss of City University Identity Cards and any library-issued tickets, or change of correspondence / email addresses must be reported to the respective departments of the University immediately.

User type	Proceed to
Staff	Human Resources Office AND Circulation Counter of the Library
Students - CityU, Telford	Academic Regulations and Records Office
Students - SCOPE	SCOPE
Alumni	Alumni Relations Office
Others	Circulation Counter of the Library

3.6.

A charge will be made for obtaining a replacement of the library-issued tickets. Expired library tickets must be returned to the Library.

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4. Borrowing Regulations

4.1.

Upon presenting a valid card of the following categories, users can borrow materials from the Library subject to the loan quotas and loan periods listed in 4.4.

4.1.1.	City University Staff Identity Card
4.1.2.	City University Student Identity Card
4.1.3.	City University Family Identity Card - only for spouse of full-time staff members and free borrowing privileges are granted only upon the completion of application formalities. Details are available at: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/service/staffspouse.htm.
4.1.4.	Alumni Library Ticket – Borrower
4.1.5.	Friends of the Library Membership Card - only for membership categories with borrowing privileges
4.1.6.	Borrower's Tickets
4.1.7.	JULAC Library card - Borrower (see 3.1.9.a. - 3.1.9.b.) - upon successful registration of a barcode at the Circulation Counter

4.2.

Cards are not transferable and cannot be used on behalf of any other person (see Appendix II). Users with difficulties coming to the Library to borrow books in person and would like to authorize a representative to do so must seek approval from the Library in advance by contacting the Circulation Librarian.

4.3.

Under normal circumstances, only students of the Telford Annex and academic staff members of the University can borrow books from the Telford Library, not any other categories of users.

4.4.

Loan Quotas and Loan Periods

Categories of Borrowers		Quota*	Periods	Book Request Quota
Council Members and DAC Members
1.	City University Council Members	40 items	90 days	6 items
2.	Departmental Advisory Committee Members with Borrower's Ticket issued by the Library (see 3.4.1.)	40 items	90 days	6 items
Faculty and Staff Members (Full-time and Part-time)
3.	Academic/Teaching/Research Staff	60 items	90 days	6 items
4.	Administrative Staff	40 items	90 days	6 items
5.	Staff other than Categories 3 & 4	20 items	30 days	6 items
Students - Main Campus/Telford/CCCU (Full-time, Part-time, Combined, Exchange)
6.	Research & Postgraduate Students	40 items	90 days	6 items
7.	Students other than Categories 6 & 8	20 items	30 days	6 items
8.	Elder Academy Students	10 items	30 days	2 items
Students - Outside Hong Kong/Visiting
9.	Outside Hong Kong or Visiting Research & Postgraduate Students	40 items	90 days	6 items
10.	Visiting or Outside Hong Kong Students other than Category 9	20 items	30 days	6 items
Staff/Students - SCOPE (those with SCOPE ID Cards)
11.	SCOPE Staff and Students of all levels	10 items	30 days	2 items
Friends of the Library
12.	Corporate Members with more than 10 employees	40 items	30 days	6 items
13.	Corporate Members with less than 10 employees	20 items	30 days	6 items
14.	Members other than Categories 12 and 13	10 items	30 days	2 items
Others
15.	Alumni Library Ticket - Borrowers	10 items	30 days	2 items
16.	Spouses of CityU staff members (upon successful application of borrowing privileges)	10 items	30 days	2 items
17.	JULAC Library Card - Borrowers (see 3.1.9.a. - 3.1.9.b.)	10 items	30 days	2 items
18.	Long-serving staff members and their spouses with Borrower's Ticket (see 3.4.2.)	10 items	30 days	2 items
19.	Other Borrower's Ticket holders (see 3.4.3.)	10 items	30 days	2 items
20.	Others (see 3.1.10.)	Special arrangement

* Use of Loan Quota

Apart from borrowing circulation books, users can also use their loan quota to borrow HKALL books, AV materials and Semi-closed (Reserve) / Closed Access materials as appropriate. Please refer to their respective loan rules as listed below:

Borrower Category	HKALL Books	Media Resources	Semi-closed (Reserve) / Closed Access Materials
1, 2, 3, 4	20 items/30 days	10 items/7 days	5 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight
5	10 items/15 days	5 items/7 days	5 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight
6	10 items/30 days	2 items/3 days	5 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight
7	10 items/15 days	2 items/3 days	5 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight
8	N/A	2 items/3 days	3 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight
9, 10	N/A	2 items/3 days	5 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight
11 - 19	N/A	1 item/in-house	3 items for 5 hours, 1 day or overnight

4.5.

Non-circulating Materials

Library materials with the status "LIB USE ONLY" on the Library Catalogue are not normally allowed to be charged out of the Library. Under exceptional circumstances staff may obtain special permission from senior library staff to borrow such materials for a short period.

4.6.

Borrowing Procedure

No library materials shall be removed from the Library until their issue has been properly recorded at the appropriate counter or at a SelfCheck unit. Valid cards must be produced when borrowing library materials at the respective service counter or SelfCheck unit.

4.7.

Recalls (see also 4.12.)

4.7.1.	All books of circulation nature are subject to recall with the exception of those items with a loan period of 15 days or less.
4.7.2.	A minimum use period of 15 days is guaranteed.
4.7.3.	Once being recalled, the due date for the item concerned will be changed. A recall notice, displaying the revised due date, will be sent to the user concerned via email. (see 5.1. - 5.4.) The revised due date will also be displayed in the circulation record of the user concerned.
4.7.4.	The user will need to return the recalled item in 15 days or by the original due date, whichever comes earlier.
4.7.5.	All recalled items must be returned on or before the new due dates. Overdue fines (at a higher rate, see 4.9.1.b.) will be levied for late returns of recalled items.
4.7.6.	Recalled books will be reserved for pick-up by the requesting patrons for 7 days after formal notification. Should a recalled book be unclaimed after 7 days, the Library will make it available to the next requesting patron or another user as appropriate.

4.8.

Renewal

4.8.1.	Books of circulation nature, including books borrowed via HKALL, may be renewed twice provided that no one else has lodged a request for the item.
4.8.2.	Overdue fines still apply to items renewed after the due dates. Renewal is treated as a continuation of loan and thus will be subject to recall at any time.

4.9.

Fines

4.9.1.

Fines for late return of library materials borrowed will be charged as follows:

(a)

Normal Loans:

1 - 10 days

HK$1 per item per calendar day;

11 - 30 days

HK$2 per item per calendar day.

(b)

Recalled Loans:

1 - 10 days

HK$3 per item per calendar day;

11 - 30 days

HK$4 per item per calendar day.

(c)

Reserved Loans:

5-Hour Loan:

1 - 12 hours

HK$2 per item per hour or part of an hour after the expiry time;

13 - 24 hours

HK$4 per item per hour or part of an hour after the expiry time.

Library closing hours will also be counted as overdue period.

1-Day Loan:

First Day Overdue

HK$24

Second Day Overdue

HK$48

(d)

Media Resources Loans

HK$5 per item per calendar day

(e)

HKALL Loans (normal)

HK$2 per item per calendar day

(f)

HKALL Loans (recalled)

HK$4 per item per calendar day

*

Grace Period - With the grace period, borrowers enjoy the opportunity to return books without penalty, in the event that they are temporarily unable to do so at the time the book is due. It is not an extension of the loan period. As such, books returned after the expiration of the grace period are fined from the actual due date of the book. Days when the Library Counter is closed will not be counted when determining the grace period. Grace periods for different types of library materials are as follows:

a.	Normal Loans	: 3 calendar days
b.	Recalled Loans	: 3 calendar days
c.	Reserved Loans	: Nil
d.	Media Resources Loans (for 7-day loans only)	: 2 calendar days
e.	HKALL Loans (normal)	: 3 calendar days
f.	HKALL Loans (recalled)	: 3 calendar days

4.9.2.

For items of CityU Library, the maximum overdue fine chargeable is HK$50.00 per item for normal loans, HK$110.00 per item for recalled loans, HK$72 per item for reserved loans and HK$100.00 for media resources loans. For HKALL books borrowed from other UGC funded university libraries, the maximum overdue fine is HK$60.00 for normal loans and HK$120.00 for recalled loans. Thereafter if an item is still not returned it shall be deemed lost and the borrower will be billed for the estimated cost of replacing the item together with the processing fee.

4.9.3.

Library materials claimed returned but not found in the Library or not charged out to another patron will be deemed as lost by the borrower and the borrower will be billed for the estimated cost of replacing the item together with the processing fee.

4.9.4.

Non-payment of bills or fines will automatically result in suspension of borrowing privileges. Further non-compliance with payment charges constitutes an offence and the student will be barred from entering the Library for a certain period. Students will not be permitted to receive any award until all library bills or fines have been paid and all loans have been returned.

4.10.

Overdues

An overdue notice will be sent via email to all categories of borrowers as soon as the loan period expires. However, the onus of returning library materials on time rests with the borrowers.

4.11.

Loss and Damage of Library Materials

4.11.1.	Any defect or damage to any library material should be reported to the Library staff at the Circulation Counter immediately when it is noticed and the item concerned should not be checked out.
4.11.2.	Users shall be held responsible for any loss or damage of the library materials while in their charge and shall be liable to pay the total cost for replacing the item (or the binding cost upon a replacement evaluation by the Circulation Librarian) in addition to the processing fee which normally will be HK$50.00 plus any accumulated fine.
4.11.3.	If the library material reported lost is later found and returned to the Library, the person may still be liable to pay the overdue fine calculated up to the date the book is found or up to the maximum fine chargeable as outlined in 4.9.2., whichever the less (plus the processing fee if a bill has been issued).
4.11.4.	Library materials lost but found and returned later will continue to remain the property of the Library and the users concerned cannot keep the items even if replacement costs have been paid.
4.11.5.	Only under exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Librarian, a refund may be made in respect of library materials deemed lost and paid for, and subsequently found and returned to the Library by the user concerned.

4.12.

Book Requests/Reservations

Using their respective book request quota (see 4.4.), users can place holds on items that have been checked out to other users (see 4.7.) and request items housed in the Shatin Branch Library. Eligible users (see 4.4. *Use of Loan Quota) can also use their book request quota to request books from the other UGC-funded university libraries through HKALL. A reservation notice will be sent to the requesting patron concerned by email (see 5.1. - 5.4.) once the requested book is available.

4.13.

Return Procedure

All borrowers must return all loans to the appropriate counter or designated places. Library materials must not be removed from Hong Kong without the permission of the Librarian because all checked out items are subject to recall. (see 4.7.) Upon recall, the loan period will be shortened and the items concerned will need to be returned to the Library before the original due date.

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5. Email Notices

5.1.	In line with the University’s emphasis and practice on electronic communication, the Library sends out its pre-overdue, overdue, recall and reservation notices to all CityU members via their email accounts registered in the University’s central database. Under normal circumstances, the email accounts should be of the following format: For students, your CityU email account is in this format: <your_electronic_id>@student.cityu.edu.hk e.g. taimanlee@student.cityu.edu.hk (if your electronic id is taimanlee) e.g. 50123456@student.cityu.edu.hk (if your electronic id is 50123456) For staff members, your CityU email account is in this format: <your_electronic_id>@cityu.edu.hk e.g. lbpeter@cityu.edu.hk (if your electronic id is lbpeter) For alumni, if you have not provided your Personal Email Address in AIMS, your default CityU Alumni Free Email Account is in this format: <your_electronic_id>@alumni.cityu.edu.hk e.g. 50987654@alumni.cityu.edu.hk (if your electronic id is 50987654) e.g. laiyuchan@alumni.cityu.edu.hk (if your electronic id is laiyuchan)
5.2.	For staff and students who still prefer using non-CityU email accounts to receive library notices, please use the Set up Email Forwarding function in the CityU email account to re-direct messages from the Library to the preferred email account. Please visit the following URL for details: http://email.cityu.edu.hk
5.3.	Users who do not possess any email address will, however, be notified by mail notices.
5.4.	It is the responsibility of the users to provide the correct correspondence / email addresses to the University and that any subsequent change must be reported to the respective departments of the University immediately. (see 3.5.)

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6. Unauthorized Removal and Mutilation of Library Materials

Unauthorized removal of library property from the library premises and mutilation of library materials are serious disciplinary offences. Users of the Library found committing these offences will be dealt with in accordance with the rules laid down by the University. (see Appendix I)

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7. Conduct of Readers in the Library

No person shall in the Library conduct himself in a manner which, in the opinion of the Librarian or his representative, is not a proper use of the Library, or which interferes with the comfort or convenience of or use of the Library by others. The following rules should be observed by all users of the Library. Any infringement of them may result in the user’s exclusion from the Library for the remainder of the day.

7.1.	Silence must be strictly observed in the Library.
7.2.	Umbrellas, food, drinks or articles which may interfere with the proper use and management of the Library are not allowed in the Library.
7.3.	Users must not wear rain-coats or any clothing that are likely to soil library property.
7.4.	Reservation of seats in the Library shall not be permitted. Books and any other articles left unattended on chairs or tables for more than 30 minutes (60 minutes from 12:00 to 13:30) may be removed by any of the library staff. The Library is not responsible for any damage and/or loss of personal belongings left in the Library.
7.5.	Tables and chairs should be used where they are and under no circumstances should they be moved to any new position without the permission from the Library.
7.6.	Cameras and other photographic equipment may not be used in the Library without the permission of the Librarian.
7.7.	Smoking, games of any form, use of mobile phones or pagers are not permitted in the Library. Users of mobile phones or pagers in the Library will be dealt with in accordance with the Penalty Scheme for Users of Mobile Phones/Pagers in the Library. (see Appendix III) Listening to headphones shall only be permitted in designated areas.
7.8.	All library materials and personal property must be shown to the member of the library staff on duty on request at the exit before they may be removed from the Library.
7.9.	In using photocopying machines in the Library, the law regarding copyright must be observed. When using electronic resources, users are reminded to comply with the terms and conditions of use of these electronic resources. Users are warned that they are fully responsible for any legal consequences concerning copyright that may arise.
7.10.	Users should treat library materials, equipment and facilities with due care and report any defect or damage to the Library staff.
7.11.	Users should treat library staff and other users in a courteous and respectful manner.
7.12.	Users should comply with all Library Regulations and notices.

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8. Special Rules

8.1.	The Librarian may make additional rules regarding admission to and use of particular areas of the Library.
8.2.	The Librarian shall have the discretion to make special rules on library use and borrowing as deemed appropriate for the proper management of the library facilities.
8.3.	The Librarian shall have the discretion to waive any of the above regulations in special circumstance if he/she believes that this is desirable in order to meet the particular requirements of an individual library user and will not have a detrimental effect on the facilities offered to any other library user or the library services as a whole.

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