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Library Regulations

Policy on Use of IT Services and Facilities
Creating a Harmonious Campus

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.
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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 - Council Members, Staff, Student, Family
3.1.2. CityU Alumni Card with subscription to below Alumni Library Services (see 3.3.)
a. Borrower
b. Reader #
3.1.3. Friends of the Library Membership Card
3.1.4. Borrower's Card for Members of Departmental Advisory Committees (see 3.4.1.)
3.1.5. Library Card for Long-serving staff members and their spouses who possess the Courtesy Identity Card issued by the University (see 3.4.2.)
a. Borrower
b. Reader #
3.1.6. Borrower's Card (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.)
3.1.7. JULAC (Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee) Library Card
a. Staff (Borrower)
b. Postgraduate Student (Borrower) #
c. Undergraduate Student (Reader) #
3.1.8. Any other person who has one of the following as approved by the Librarian on a discretionary basis
a. Temporary Pass
b. Reader's Card
c. Borrower's Card
# 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.
3.2. One Patron One Library Privilege Policy
A library user who holds more than one of the above cards and has multiple status or roles will only be provided one single library service package/privilege based upon the role that entitles him/her to enjoy the highest level of library services.
3.3. Alumni Library Services offered to CityU Alumni Card holders
3.3.1. Alumni with City University of Hong Kong academic awards, who hold a valid CityU Alumni Card, may subscribe to Alumni Library Services with either reader or borrower privileges to access the Library.
3.3.2. Alumni may also apply for the Alumni e-Resources Service which offers remote access to selected electronic resources subscribed by the Library.
3.3.3. Details on Alumni Library Services are available at: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/service/alumni/index.htm
3.4. Borrower's Card
3.4.1. Members of Departmental Advisory Committees may apply for the Borrower's Card 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 Card. A deposit of HK$500 is required for each Borrower's Card issued. Application for the card 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 Card (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 cards, 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 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 cards. Expired library cards 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 4.3.
4.1.1. City University Council Member Identity Card
4.1.2. City University Staff Identity Card
4.1.3. City University Student Identity Card
4.1.4. 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.
4.1.5. Borrower's Card for:
a. Alumni
b. Members of Departmental Advisory Committees
c. Long-serving staff members and their spouses
d. Non-CityU members recommended by Departments / approved by Librarian
e. Staff and Postgraduate Students from other UGC institutions
(upon successful registration of the JULAC Library Card at the Circulation Counter)
f. Friends of the Library
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 Head of Access Services.
4.3. Loan Quotas and Loan Periods
Categories of Borrowers Total Loan Quotas
(Items)		 Loan Period of Books
(Days)		 HKALL
(Items / Days / Request Quota)		 Semi-closed, Reserve, Closed Access Materials & Others (Items / Period) Media Resources
(Items / Days)		 CityU Book Request Quota
(Items)
Category A
1. City University Council Members 200 120 30 / 30 / 30 5 / 5 hrs*, 1 day or 3 days 10 / 7 20
2. Departmental Advisory Committee Members (see 3.5.1.)
3. Academic / Teaching / Research / Administrative Staff
Category B
4. Research / Postgraduate Students 200 120 15 / 30 / 15 5 / 5 hrs*, 1 day or 3 days 5 / 3 20
5. Outside Hong Kong or Visiting Research / Postgraduate Students*
Category C
6. Undergraduate / Associate Degree Students 100 30 15 / 15 / 15 5 / 5 hrs*, 1 day or 3 days 5 / 3 10
7. Outside Hong Kong or Visiting Undergraduate / Associate Degree Students*
8. General / Minor Grade Staff@
Category D
9. Spouses of CityU staff members (see 4.1.4.) 40 30 N/A 3 / 5 hrs*, 1 day or 3 days 2 / 3 6
10. Long-serving retired staff members and their spouses – Borrower's Card (see 3.5.2.)
11. SCOPE - Affiliated Staff and Students of All Levels
Category E
12. Alumni – Borrower's Card 10 30 N/A 3 / 5 hrs*, 1 day or 3 days 1 / same day in-house 2
13. JULAC Library Card Holders - Borrowers (see 3.1.7.a. and 3.1.7.b.)
14. Elder Academy Students#
15. Friends of the Library - Invitation Members
16. Others (see 3.1.8. and 3.5.3.)

* HKALL Borrowing Services not available to these users
# Elder Academy Students can borrow 2 Media Resources items for 3 days
@ General/Minor Grade Staff can borrow 5 Media Resources items for 7 days
% Users can borrow 1 Media Resources item for in-house use only and must return the loan item within the same day
* When the due time for 5-hour loans of Teachers’ Collection falls into a time period when the Circulation Counter is closed, the due time will be extended to the opening time the next day the Circulation Counter is open.
4.5. Non-circulating Materials
Library materials with the POLICY "LIB USE ONLY" on CityU LibraryFind 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 MY LIBRARY ACCOUNT 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. Items of circulation nature, including books borrowed via HKALL but excluding short loan and media items, may be renewed an unlimited number of times during the renewal period via CityU LibraryFind unless recalled. Items must be returned to the library when the renewal period expires.
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 are calculated automatically on the basis of the number of calendar days (hours for hourly loans) an item is overdue and the type of material. Days (hours for hourly loans) that the Circulation Counter is closed are not taken into account for this purpose. Note that there is no ceiling on the maximum fine charged for overdue items. Fines for late return of library materials borrowed will be charged as follows:
(a) Normal Loans: HK$1 per item per calendar day
(b) Recalled Loans: HK$3 per item per calendar day;
(c) Reserved Loans:
(books & media):
5-Hour Loan: HK$2 per item per hour or part of an hour after the expiry time;
1-Day / 3-Day Loan: HK$24 per item per calendar day
(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. All calendar days for day loans / minutes for hourly loans will 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  
  1-Day / 3-Day Loan : Nil
  5-Hour Loan : 30 minutes
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. Final Overdue Notices will be issued respectively on the 30th, 7th, and 3rd day after the due date for Normal (CityU/HKALL), Recalled (CityU/HKALL), and Reserved / Media Resources (CityU) Loans. If an item is still not returned after the Final Overdue Notice is issued, it shall be deemed lost and the borrower will be billed for the estimated cost of replacing the item, processing fee and the accumulated overdue fines.
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 and the accumulated overdue fines.
4.9.4. Non-payment of bills or fines with amount exceeding HK$30.00 will automatically result in temporary 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 certificates 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 who should often check their Library accounts for the most updated due dates. Non-receipt of or failure to read such notices shall not be accepted as an excuse for waiving or reducing fines.
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 Head of Access Services) in addition to the processing fee which normally will be HK$50.00 plus any accumulated fine.
4.11.3. If the library material that has been reported lost / claimed returned / claimed not borrowed is later found and returned to the Library, the borrower shall still be liable to pay the overdue fine calculated up to the date the book is found (plus the processing fee if a bill has been issued).
4.11.4. All damaged library items or 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 4.3.), users can place holds on items that have been checked out to other users (see 4.7.) and request items housed in the Shatin Storage. Eligible users (see 4.3. *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 on and practice of electronic communication, all check-out and check-in receipts, as well as all pre-overdue, overdue, renewal, recall and reservation notices from the Library are sent to CityU members' registered email addresses in the University's central database. Under normal circumstances, the email accounts should be in one of the following formats:

For students, your CityU email account is in this format:
eid-c@my.cityu.edu.hk
e.g. tmchan8-c@my.cityu.edu.hk (if your eid is tmchan8)

For staff members, your CityU email account is in this format:
eid@cityu.edu.hk
e.g. lbpeter@cityu.edu.hk (if your eid 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:
eid-c@my.cityu.edu.hk (Office 365)
e.g. tmchan8-c@my.cityu.edu.hk (if your eid is tmchan8)

5.2. For users 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. For details, please go to the University's web page on email services at http://email.cityu.edu.hk/home/ and click on "Account Management".
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 3.6.)
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6.   Unauthorized Removal and Mutilation of Library Materials

Unauthorized removal of library property from the library premises, removing items from the Semi-closed Collection Room without completing the checkout procedures, 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 Users 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 or termination of all library services to the user and the Library reserves the right to maintain that restriction for as long as deemed appropriate by the Library.

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. All belongings should not be left unattended. The Library will not be responsible for the safe keeping and any loss/damages of belongings left in the Library.
7.5. Users cannot demand for particular seats, as all seats are provided on a first-come-first-served basis. Selected computer seats which are designated for advance booking can be reserved online.
7.6. 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. Clearance of unattended seats is at the discretion of Library staff, depending on the situation, such as overall availability of seats, manpower resources at a particular point of time.
7.7. 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.
7.8. Cameras and other photographic equipment may not be used in the Library without the permission of the Librarian.
7.9. Smoking and games of any form are not permitted in the Library.
7.10. All mobile phones, pagers and other sound-emitting devices must be turned off or switched to vibrant/silent mode before admission to the Library. Mobile phone conversation is strictly prohibited within the Library area, with the exception of the Library Lounge and Study Rooms where mobile phone conversation in a low voice is permitted. 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 IV).
7.11. 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.
7.12. 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. Sharing of login information with other people is strictly prohibited as this is in breach of the user agreement and a violation of University’s information security policies. Users are warned that they are fully responsible for any legal consequences concerning copyright that may arise.
7.13. Users should treat library materials, equipment and facilities with due care and report any defect or damage to the Library staff. Ignorance of any of them shall not be accepted as an excuse for non-compliance.
7.14. Users should treat library staff and other users in a courteous and respectful manner.
7.15. 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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