Student Services: Borrowing and Reserves

To borrow materials at the Circulation Desk, you must have and present a valid borrower's card; for USA students this is your picture ID.

Loan Period:  4 weeks; 2 renewals are possible.
Maximum number of items: Undergraduates may borrow 20 books and Graduate students up to 40 books at a time.

Book drops: There are two outside bookdrops. One is next to the West entrance door and there's a drive-through drop in the upper parking lot north of the building. Please do not place videos, CDs or DVDs in the bookdrops

Library Reserve includes materials such as those in the Alabama/Gulf Coast Collections, both circulating and non-circulating. Course Reserves are materials placed on Reserve by faculty members; these are kept behind the Circulation Desk, but they may also be online and accessible from anywhere. Check the Course Reserve link on the Library homepage. A current student ID is required to borrow library-held items. Overdue fines are assessed in accordance with the variable check-out periods.

Please note that Reserve differs from Reference. Most Reference materials are non-circulating but are on open stacks in the Reference Department on the Second Floor North.

The Marx Library allows 2 renewals on items. You can either renew online or you can call the Circulation Desk.

Phone: 251-460-7028

Online Renewals

Books can be renewed online using the following procedure:

• Access the University Library webpage at http://library.southalabama.edu
• Click on SOUTHcat Catalog.
• Click on My Account.
• Enter your J Number in the J Number field
• In the next box, enter your last name. NOTE: Your name must be entered exactly as it appears in USA's official records. If this still does not work, contact Circulation at (251) 460-7028.
• Click on Login.

The next screen should be your patron record showing your name, address, etc., and the items currently charged out to you. If they qualify for renewal, there will be a column offering that option. Check the items you want to renew and click on Renew Items.

Be sure that you Logoff to clear your record from the computer especially if you are on a public computer.

Can't Renew?

You may be unable to renew items if:

• The maximum number of renewals has been exceeded.
• You have accumulated more than $20 in fines.
• A hold or recall has been placed on the item.

Problems? Call the Circulation Desk at (251) 460-7028.

The Marx Library assess overdue fines at the following rates:

Books

25¢ per item, per day

CDs and DVDs

50¢ per day, per item

The Circulation Desk will take payment by cash, check, money order, Visa or Mastercard for any charges you incur.

Holds and Recalls may only be placed on books that are already checked out. To place a hold on or to recall a book:

1. Access the Marx Library webpage at http://library.southalabama.edu
2. Click on SOUTHcat Catalog.
3. Do a search to bring up the particular title you want, then click on the title.
4. Choose Hold/Recall from the top of the SOUTHcat screen.
5. Enter your J Number (including the J00) and your last name.
6. From the drop-down menu, choose either Hold or Recall. Do NOT choose Recall for an item that is due in less than 14 days.
7. Enter your student ID (including the J00) again. If you don't enter the number again, you will get a message that "The library card number you entered does not match that of the currently logged in patron. You may retry your request or log out and start over."
8. From the drop-down menu, choose the place where you want to pick up your requested book.
9. Click on Submit Request.
10. You should get a message that "Your patron-initiated request was successful."
11. Remember to Logoff when you are done, especially if you are on a public workstation.