Library Borrowing and Access

Alumnae/i Borrowing | Borrowing Policies | E-Mail Notices | Food and Drink | E-ZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) | Faculty Reciprocal Borrowing | Fines and Lost Books | Lending Policies | Missing Items | Posting Policy | Recalls | Renewals | Requesting from Other Tri-Co Locations | Visitors

During the regular semester, visitors are welcome at the Bryn Mawr College Libraries on weekdays from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and at Canaday Library on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Please contact Carpenter and Collier libraries directly for hours and access. For our most up-to-date hours, please check our hours page before visiting.

Our first priority is to support the Bryn Mawr College community of students, faculty, staff and alumnae/i. The Library is open for U.S. Federal depository access. Library or Campus Safety staff may ask for an ID at any time.

The following people may borrow library materials:

• Current Tri-co students, faculty, and staff: present a valid college ID card/OneCard at the circulation desk.
• Tri-co alumnae/i: obtain a borrowing card from a circulation supervisor at your alma mater's library.
• Bryn Mawr faculty and staff spouses: obtain a borrowing card by filling out the Gym/Library Application for Spouses and giving it to Human Resources.
• Faculty affiliated with some PALCI (EZ-Borrow) member institutions. This privilege may be renewed yearly with confirmation of faculty status.

Alumnae/i Borrowing

Bryn Mawr College Libraries is happy to offer the borrowing of physical materials to alumnae/i. Alums may also visit the library to pick up their card and materials during our visitor hours.

Alumnae/i borrowing does not include access to most electronic resources, including e-books, from off-campus, EZ-Borrow, or ILL. Alumnae/i have access to some library databases. See our Guide to Alumnae/i Resources.

Request Borrowing Privileges

​​Borrowing Policies

Library patrons are expected to act responsibly when checking out items to their library accounts. Patrons should always:

• Return materials on time (fees are assessed on all items returned after a bill has been issued)
• Keep borrowed items in good condition. Fines are assessed on damaged items.
• Keep borrowed items in your own possession. Do not lend items you borrowed from the library to someone else, as you are still responsible for returning them on time.

Patrons must show a valid Tri-College ID or Yellow Bryn Mawr Borrowing Card in order to borrow library materials or request information about their account. Patrons with visitor cards from other Tri-College libraries (Swarthmore or Haverford) may not borrow materials from Bryn Mawr College Libraries. Correspondingly, patrons with Bryn Mawr Visitor Cards may not borrow from other Tri-College libraries.

E-Mail Notices

Bryn Mawr College libraries send all library notices (overdues, recalls, fines, bills, hold pickup and cancellations, etc.) via email. These notices are sent to your Bryn Mawr email address.

If you do not use your Bryn Mawr email, it is your responsibility to set your Bryn Mawr email account to forward to the address that you do use. You are also responsible for setting your spam filters on your Bryn Mawr and any other email account to allow messages from the library. 

E-ZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Material not in Tripod may be borrowed from another library through E-ZBorrow or ILL. 

Do not remove yellow/white labels from books.

Faculty Reciprocal Borrowing

Bryn Mawr faculty have borrowing privileges at some PALCI member institutions. Bryn Mawr College also extends reciprocal borrowing privileges to faculty members of other participating PALCI member institutions. For a list of participating institutions and information on applying, please see https://palci.org/services/reciprocal-on-site-borrowing-program/. You will need to have the authorization form signed by a librarian at Bryn Mawr (or your home institution). Bryn Mawr faculty can also borrow from the Penn Libraries. 

​Fines and Lost Books

Current Bryn Mawr College students should pay their library fines at the Controller's Office in Gateway, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Haverford and Swarthmore students should see the main libraries on their campuses to pay their library fines.

Library fines for faculty, staff, visitors & alumnae/alumni must be paid to the circulation desk. The circulation desk will only accept payment in the form of a check made out to Bryn Mawr College.

If you are mailing a payment, sent it to:

Attention: Circulation
Canaday Library
101 N. Merion Ave.
Bryn Mawr. PA 19010-2899

Once your payment is received and processed, a receipt will be e-mailed to you.

The library does not accept replacement books in lieu of fine payments.

The library charges the following fines for overdue library items*:

• Reserve materials: $1 per hour or portion thereof
• Recalled materials: $2 per day
• E-ZBorrow and ILL (books borrowed from outside the Tri-Colleges): $1 per day

Items returned with damages are also subject to fines.

The library issues bills for items so long overdue they are assumed to be lost. You are e-mailed at least three overdue notices before you are billed for an item.

Borrowing privileges will be blocked if:

• Unpaid bills exceed the Library's set limit
• You keep a recalled item past its new due date

​If your library record is blocked, you will be able to borrow materials again when:

• Billed books are paid for or returned to the library
• Overdue recalled books are returned to the library

*Please be aware that some items from Haverford and Swarthmore may accrue fines where their Bryn Mawr counterparts do not. You will be responsible for paying these fines.

Did you get an overdue notice for something you think you've already returned to the library? Request a search — we will take a look for it and reply within one week with the results of our search. The item will remain checked out to you while we search.

Food and Drink

Food is not allowed in the libraries. Beverages are allowed only in covered containers or bottles.

Please enjoy your food in The Lusty Cup on the A Floor of Canaday.

Lending Policies

For any questions about our lending policies, including what items you're able to request/borrow, fine accrual, and due dates, please reach out via circulation@brynmawr.edu. We're happy to help!

Missing Items

Did you look something up in Tripod only to go to the shelf and find that it's not there?

• Make sure you're looking in the right library (Canaday, Carpenter, or Collier).
• Check the to-be-shelved area: an item that was recently used might be there
• Not sure how to find your way around the library? Ask for help at the circulation desk.
• Need help finding an item? Request a search -- We will get back to you within one week. If we find the item, we will hold it for you.

Posting Policy (Canaday)

Please post only on the general-use bulletin board on the 1st floor facing the elevator, and in designated spaces within the Lusty Cup.  The front doors, windows, and vestibule area are are reserved for library information only.

Recalls

Any current student or faculty member may recall any item that is currently checked out by using the "Request Item" function.

• Any recalled item must be promptly returned, even if the borrower is using it to write a thesis. Keeping recalled items past their new due dates will cause your library account to blocked.
• When an item is recalled, a new recall due date is issued allowing the first patron five days to finish up with the book. If a book is already overdue, no additional time will be granted and the book will be due immediately.
• If you leave the Bryn Mawr area, you are still responsible for returning recalled books on time.  If you travel with library materials, watch for recall notices and be prepared to mail recalled items to the library. If you do not have e-mail access, do not keep library materials out on your account while traveling.
• Books needed for reserve and overdue books are subject to immediate recall. 
• If a book is recalled from you and you still need it, try E-ZBorrow or ILL.

Renewals

You can renew most library items by accessing your library record and following the on-screen directions. 

EZBorrow books cannot be renewed.

ILL items may be renewed through the following steps: 

1. Log in to your ILLiad account
2. Click on the "Checked Out/Renew Items" in the "View" menu. 
3. Click on the number in the "Transaction" column next to the book you want to renew. 
4. Click on the "Renew Request" link above the information for the book. If the "Renew Request" link is not present, the lending library does not allow renewals. Click the "Clone Request" link instead to resubmit the request, and we will obtain the book from another library if possible.

Requesting from Haverford and Swarthmore Libraries

Current Bryn Mawr students, faculty and staff may borrow books from Haverford and Swarthmore College libraries in person, or request items to be sent to Bryn Mawr. Use the "Request Item" function in Tripod to get items from these libraries. Requested items may be picked up at the Circulation desk, usually within 24 hours.

Thesis Writers

"Thesis Status" is automatically given to all Bryn Mawr seniors and graduate students.  This means that all regularly-circulating tri-college books will be due for these patrons at the end of the semester.

Thesis Status does not apply to:

• Revalls: any recalled book must be promptly returned, even if the borrower is using it to write a thesis
• Videos and DVDs.
• Bound journals
• ILL and E-ZBorrow books
• Laptops
• Any other short-term loan materials not individually listed

Visitors

Visitors are welcome at the Bryn Mawr College Libraries on weekdays from opening through 6pm.

We are not able to offer borrowing privileges to visitors with no affiliation with Bryn Mawr College unless the patron is faculty member at a PALCI member institution.

Visitors may not:

• Borrow materials
• Print from library printers
• Access electronic resources from off-campus

Visitors may view videos and DVDs in-house only, using viewing rooms in Canaday Library. Visitors may not take these items out of the library. If interested, please see the circulation desk to sign a lending agreement and receive a key to a viewing room as well as headphones, if necessary. Please email circulation@brynmawr.edu or call the circulation desk at 610-526-5276 with any questions.

Patrons with a visitor card from Swarthmore or Haverford may not borrow materials from Bryn Mawr College Libraries.