Ask WWU Libraries

Items are due back before closing time on their due date. Loan receipts containing item due dates are automatically emailed at the time of checkout. Due dates are also typically written on the item's due date slip/book band for quick reference.

Please note that most loans are considered lost when they are either 10 days late or the day after your library record expires (see below for important extras). Once a loan is considered lost, replacement fees--including a $15 non-refundable processing fee--will be added to your library account at that time. For a full discussion of fees, please see the current WWU Financial Bulletin. 

Undergraduate Students

• Books: 3 weeks 
• Reference materials: Use only in the library
• Reserve items: Varies; check with Public Services
• Periodicals: Non-archival issues, 7 days
• DVDs, Videos, and Audio Media: 7 days
• Equipment: Varies; check with Public Services
• Summit: 6 weeks for books, 6 days for media and specialty items
• Summer borrowing: Upon proof of either being registered for summer quarter or on-campus summer employment, normal loan rules apply. 

​Graduate Students

• Books; DVDs, Videos, and Audio Media: 3 months or end of quarter
• Reference materials: Use only in the library
• Reserve items: Varies; check with Public Services
• Periodicals: Non-archival issues, 7 days
• Equipment: Varies; check with Public Services
• Summit: 6 weeks, with a possibility of one 6 week renewal. 
• Summer borrowing: Upon proof of being registered for summer quarter or, in continuing research situations, fall quarter, normal loan rules apply.

Faculty/Staff

• Books; DVDs, Videos, and Audio Media: 3 months or end of Spring Quarter
• Reference materials: Normally not loaned; check with CLEAR Librarians for extenuating needs
• Reserve items: Varies; check with Public Services
• Periodicals: Non-archival issues, 7 days; all others, check with Periodicals Specialist
• Equipment: Varies; check with Public Services
• Summit: 6 weeks for books, 6 days for media and specialty items
• Note: All local library materials must be brought back to the library at the end of Spring Quarter, where they may be re-checked out.

Renewals

If no one else has requested an item that you have out on loan from either the main circulating collection or Summit, you may request a renewal on that item through your online library account. 

Students wishing to keep items over intersessions, will need to speak to Public Services at the end of the quarter and may need to provide proof of registration for upcoming quarter. 

Have more questions about borrowing? Call the Library Information Desk at 509-527-2134 or email Public Services.

Important Extras

• PeopleSoft sets the expiration date of student, faculty, and staff library records. The expiration date dictates the final day an item may be returned. Think of it as a final due date. For students, this date falls at the end of each academic quarter. For faculty and staff, this date falls at the end of Spring Quarter. PeopleSoft provides new expiration dates for continuing students/faculty/staff the day after the quarter ends, at which point normal loan activities resume.
• An Equipment Circulation Agreement must be signed in order to borrow large equipment, such as projectors, screens, tablets, or external disc drives.
• Material on loan may be recalled after three weeks of being checked out should another member of the campus community request the item.