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Resources for Staff Members: Circulation Policies

This guide is designed to assist Furman University staff members in navigating the resources and services available at the James B. Duke Library, the Maxwell Music Library, and the Sanders Science Library. Click on the tabs above to learn about our circulation policies, research assistance, how to find books, articles, and multimedia, and the other services available in the James B. Duke Library.

Borrowing Library Materials

Your Palacard serves as your library card.

View Your Library Account Online

Due Dates

The staff circulation period for most books is 91 days. The circulation period for leisure books is 21 days; videos circulate for 7 days. Staff members are not usually charged library fines, but are asked to return materials on time or renew them as appropriate. Staff members will be billed for items that are lost or damaged, including the base cost of the item plus a $15.00 replacement processing fee. Staff members who leave Furman must return ALL materials checked out before departing.

Renewing Checked-out Items

If you need an item for longer than the normal loan period, you can renew it online, over the phone, or in person. To see what you have checked out, when it is due, and renew online, you will need your Furman ID number. To renew by phone, you can call the Main Library Circulation Desk at 294-2265, the Music Library at 294-3795, or the Science Library at 294-2455.


Note: An item may not be renewed if it has been requested by another patron. Items checked out to you may be recalled if needed by a faculty member for course reserves.

Courtesy and Overdue Notices

Courtesy notices are sent via email three days before an item's due date. An overdue notice is sent via email one day after the item is due. A second overdue notice is sent seven days after an item's due date. A third overdue notice is sent fourteen days after an item's due date.

Borrowing Books from Other Libraries

You can search for books at other libraries using WorldCat.

PASCAL Delivers is a library service that allows Furman students, faculty or staff to borrow books from SC academic libraries. Books are delivered to the main library within five business days by the PASCAL Delivers courier. You will receive an email notice when your items arrive. This free service is currently used to borrow books only. The loan period is six weeks and renewals are not permitted.

InterLibrary Loan is a service whereby the ILL/Document Delivery department will do their best to acquire any type of material needed including media (videos, film, sound recordings), and sheet music in addition to books and journal articles from other libraries world-wide. Interlibrary loan materials usually take 5-10 days to arrive and you will receive notification by e-mail when it arrives.

As a Duke Endowment Library, Furman also has circulation agreements with Davidson, Duke, and Johnson C. Smith in North Carolina. You can borrow books from these libraries using your Furman ID card. If you check books out from these libraries, you can return them to the Main Library at Furman and we will ship them back for you.

Loan Periods for Staff Members

Material Type Loan Period
books from the General Collection 91 days
new books 91 days
leisure books 21 days
books from PASCAL 42 days
books from Interlibrary Loan due dates vary
audiobooks 21 days
music CDs 21 days
DVDs 7 days

Library Hours

Below are the weekly hours for our locations. To see all our hours for all locations, visit our hours page.

The front doors of the library are locked 15 minutes prior to closing.

Changes in scheduled hours will be posted on the library homepage and the front doors of the library as soon as possible. Hours may change due to winter storms or other weather emergencies. For additional information, call 294-2265.

Borrowing Privileges for Dependents

Dependents of Furman employees may apply for a Dependent ID Card at the University's Business Office. This Furman ID card will serve as your dependent's library card.

Scan & Deliver Service

Scan and Deliver is an article and book chapter delivery service.  When you need an article from a journal or a chapter from a book which is owned by the library only in print or microformat, we will scan the article/book chapter and deliver it to you electronically through your ILLiad account. Learn more about Scan & Deliver.