Reserves
Print Reserves are materials physically present at the library and set aside for class use. Because an entire class will need to use them, professors put materials on reserve to limit how long they can be checked out. Four-hour reserves are not permitted to leave the library.
To check out an item on Print Reserve, take the citation information provided by your instructor to the Information Commons Desk. You can check to see if the item is currently available by clicking the link below and looking up the item.
Items on Reserve are held behind the Information Commons desks at Irwin Library and the Science Library. The Science Library also has an Open Reserve shelf available in the 24/7 card-accessible study area.
You can check online to see which items have been placed on reserve for your course:
- Visit the Course Reserve Search within WorldCat Discovery.
- Search by course name, instructor name, or department.
- Click on the title of the course to view all items placed on reserve. Click again on the title of the reserve item to view its library location and current availability status.
- Visit the desk at Irwin Library or the Science Library to obtain the reserve item. It will check out for a much shorter period than regular books; most items will only loan for 4-hours and cannot leave the library building.
- Some reserve items are on the Open Reserve shelf inside the card-accessible study area of the Science Library. These are not allowed to leave the library, but may be used by anyone in the space.
If you have questions, please contact Information Commons.
Faculty members of Butler University may request that library-owned or personal materials be placed on Reserve at Irwin or Science. Materials may be placed on Reserve for assigned class readings, and not for suggested readings, browsing, or other casual use. The following items can be placed on Reserve:
- Books, Scores, CDs, DVDs, LP records and other materials owned by Butler faculty or Butler University Libraries (except reference books that can only be used in the library, or archived materials that can only be used in the Rare Books Room). Personally recorded copies of multimedia reserve materials (e.g., DVDs or CDs) are discouraged. When possible, library-owned copies should be placed on reserve. In the event the library does not own a copy, every attempt will be made to acquire a library copy. If you would like the library to purchase material that supports your class, please contact your Library Liaison.
- Solution manuals, instructional manuals, handbooks, supplements to textbooks (supplied by faculty).
- Course syllabi, lecture notes, sample exams, may be placed on Print Reserves (supplied by faculty).
Materials that may not be placed on reserve include materials borrowed through Interlibrary Loan & PALShare and DVD rentals from Netflix or similar services.
The Butler University Libraries’ policy for the Print Reserves service is derived from the fair use provisions of United States Copyright Act, Title 17. We make every effort to ensure that submissions are in compliance with the spirit of the law.
If you need Reserves to be available for student use by a specific date, please be sure to submit them at least 48 hours in advance.
Request Form
Please fill out the Reserve Request Form below. Any personal materials will need to be delivered to the library; library staff will pull any library-owned items that are requested.
- The library is not responsible for any damage made to personal materials due to normal use. If special handling is required please indicate so on the reserve form.
- While we do not pose any restriction on the quantity of Reserves requested, we recommend faculty to keep library-owned Reserve books for each course within 25 items. Following this guideline ensures that other patrons have access to library-owned materials.
- All items will be removed from the Reserve collection at the end of each semester or academic year, as specified on the Reserve Form.
If you have questions, please contact Baustin Skillman (bskillma@butler.edu).
Overdue
Overdue notices will be e-mailed to students several times before an item(s) is declared lost. To ensure a timely return of books and to avoid fees for lost reserve materials, students are encouraged to monitor their due-dates via My Library Account. Late fees for reserve materials are billed at $10 per day per overdue item up to $300. If the library material is returned undamaged within 30 days past the due date, then the student will only be required to pay the late fee(s).
Billing
After 30 days, library reserve materials are declared lost and a bill will be e-mailed to the student and to Student Accounts. Students will have to pay an irreversible replacement cost (ranging from $15–$200+). If the bill is greater than $195 a department requested hold will be placed on the student’s account and will not be lifted until the bill is settled.
Please direct any questions regarding overdue items and billing to circ@butler.edu.