Auto-renewals are here! Changes to our Flexible Loans and charges

Just over one year ago, we made some big changes to our fines system and since then we’ve been listening to your feedback in relation to the rest of our loans and charges system. Here's what's happening now: 

The big changes

• We’re moving to auto-renewals - this means when you borrow a book, although it’ll still technically have a due date, this will automatically renew within 10 days of the due date if no one else needs the book. If you’re the only one who needs the book, you can keep reading it until you’re done with it, or until you graduate
• We’re changing the recall dates on books - when another user requests a book you have on loan, we’ll email you and let you know and you’ll now have 7 days to return it (up from 3 days) whether you are full time or part time. If there is a queue of requests on a book, and you are a full time-user, you will have 5 days to return it (up from 2 days)
• We’re getting rid of the inconvenience charge - we get it, sometimes stuff happens and books get lost. In the first instance talk to us about it. If you have lost a book, you may still be liable for a charge (we’ll be updating our lost item pages with more information in January), but we won’t be charging you an inconvenience fee on top of this. We think this is fairer, and we hope you do too

Talk to us

Just as when we changed our fines approach, for this all to work, we need you to continue to play your part. We’ve been looking at streamlining the messages we send to you, so you’ll only get the important stuff; additionally, here’s a few things you can do to help this all work:

• If you get an email from us which says it is time to return a Library item, it’s because another Library user really needs it (just like you did) - please return it promptly and within the 5 or 7 day recall period. It’s part of what makes the York community so awesome! If items are overdue we may consider it to be lost and add a lost charge
• If you think you might have lost an item, or you’re having an issue getting an item back to us that has been recalled, get in contact with us straight away. Our team is friendly and happy to help. Sometimes life gets in the way, and that’s ok
• If you think you might have outstanding charges on your account prior to 8 January, that are blocking your account, talk to us. We’ll be able to talk to you about the next steps