It's important that all books you intend to take out of the library are issued to your library account before you leave the building.
Books can be issued to your account via the Library Helpdesk, or the self-service kiosks. To use the self-service kiosks, simply press the "Borrow" button, scan your student card, and place the books you'd like to take out in the designated vent (no need to scan them individually!). Wait for green ticks to appear on the screen next to each item and you're ready to go!
The total number of books you're allowed to borrow depends on what type of user you are, and your year of study.
| Undergraduate Student - Level 4 or 5 | 16 |
| Undergraduate Student - Level 6 | 20 |
| Postgraduate Taught Student | 20 |
| Postgraduate Research Student | 25 |
| Staff | 25 |
| Partner (Suffolk New College, West Suffolk College, East Cost College) | 6 |
| Partner (UNICAF, Hanbridge, GBS, LSC) | 0 |
| External Member (SCONUL, Alumni, Public) | 4 |
Different loan types can be borrowed for different periods of time.
| Reference Only | Red | Not for Loan |
| 3 Week Loan | Green / White | 3 weeks |
| 1 Week Loan | Yellow | 1 Week |
| 24-Hour Loan | Blue | 24 Hours |
Students with a special educational need or disability confirmed by Student Support services are entitled to one additional week on 1 Week loans.
For Ipswich-based students and staff, all 1-week and 3-week loans will be automatically renewed for a period of up to one year unless they have been requested by another user or there is another issue on your account.
If your item has been requested by another user, you will receive an email notification to your student address requesting that you return the item as soon as possible.
External members and partner students can manually renew loaned items via their library account.
To manually renew items on your account, follow the below steps:
Loaned items can be returned via:
Simply drop the books off with a member of staff, and they will return them from your library account for you.
Click the "Return" button on the self-service kiosks in the library foyer, and place the books in the designated vent. No need to use your student card! Wait for the green ticks to appear on the screen and place your returns on one of the returns trollies.
Simply pop your books in the drop box! Drop boxes are emptied at least once every 24 hours. We'll return them from your library account as soon as we collect them.