Requesting Materials
The Swem Library Circulation Department's mission is to ensure that all library patrons find the materials they need in the proper location, quickly and easily, and that they receive knowledgeable and friendly assistance in all circulation functions. If you have questions about circulation policies or your circulation record, you may call the Circulation Department at 757-221-3072, e-mail your question to swcirc@wm.edu, or contact the Circulation Manager at 757-221-3058.
Swem Library is open to the public, and all individuals may use materials in the library. Current William and Mary faculty, staff, and students have automatic privileges to check out materials.
The library also has arrangements with reciprocal educational and research institutions (including the Virginia Tidewater Consortium) for their staff and students to have borrowing Swem Library privileges.
Other individuals who wish to check out Swem Library materials should visit our web page on Library Cards for Visitors (Patrons Other Than W&M Students, Staff, and Faculty) or ask at the Circulation Desk for options. These options include interlibrary loan through their own public libraries, being a William and Mary alumnus, being a current Virginia teacher or school administrator, checking out government documents only, joining the Swem Library Friends of the Library group, and more.
For loan periods, limits, and fines please see our Borrowing Privileges Charts.
The William and Mary ID card serves as the library card for W&M students, staff, and faculty. For other patrons, please see our Mission (above) about library use and our information on Library Cards for Visitors.
These cards may be used to check out circulating materials either at the Circulation Desk or at our self-check out machine, located adjacent to the Circulation Desk, and as debit cards to make photocopies on photocopiers and microfilm reader-printers and to pay library fines and fees.
If you would like your student assistants to check out library materials for you, please fill out and sign both halves of our Permission for Students to Check Out Materials for Faculty/Staff form.
To check out materials for you, your studen assistants will need to present the signed permission forms and their student ID cards.
If you are an undergraduate Honors student, you have the same borrowing privileges as a graduate student. W&M's Charles Center provides Swem Library with a list of Honors students, and the library automatically converts your borrowing privileges tothe graduate student status on or about the first day of classes.
If you are a graduate student completing a paper but not enrolled in a course, please ask your advisor to fill out and sign an Thesis Student Library Card Application. The student brings the completed form to Swem Library's Circulation Desk, where it will be approved and a special library card issued.
Please visit Swem Library's Library Cards for Visitors web page for details.
Please visit Swem Library's Video Policies web page for details.
To see a list of the items that you have checked out, your hold or recall requests, and messages about off-site items you requested, visit either Swem's home page or the Library Catalog web page and click on My Account. Enter your Library ID and your Library PIN. These numbers are defined on the What's My Library ID & PIN? web pages.
For your privacy and protection, we recommend that you change your Library PIN. Follow the instructions above for checking My Account, then click on User PIN Change.
The confidentiality of your borrowing records is protected by Virginia state law which prohibits library staff from releasing the names of borrowers of specific library materials. For details, please see Swem Library's Confidentiality Policy.
Social Security Number
So that Swem Library can ensure return of its materials and payment of fines and fees, the College needs access to patrons' social security numbers. However, the library's list of borrowers, their social security numbers, and any associated records are protected by privacy laws and from authorized use.
Renewal options and limits are noted above in the section on Loan Periods. You may renew your own items through the My Account option on Swem Library's home page or the Library Catalog.
Please return materials in the Returns slot at the Circulation Desk or, when the library is closed, in the book return at the library's front entrance.
Items mistakenly returned to other libraries and items returned to Swem through the mail will be considered as overdue if received past their due date.
Addresses for returning items by mail or shipping service:
For overdue fines for different types of library patrons and library materials, please see our Borrowing Privileges Charts.
Charged for the replacement of items which have been lost, damaged beyond repair, or not returned to the library. A standard fee of $40.00 per item ($30.00 for the item and $10.00 for processing fees) plus any overdue fines applicable are charged for a lost item.
Charged for those books which are returned with the bindings damaged by the borrower. Charges are assessed according to the size and complexity of rebinding.
Refunds will be issued for the return of items for which replacement charges have been paid within the past three months. Refunds are 66% of the paid replacement price and are issued through the State Finance Office, therefore up to six weeks' delay may be encountered.
If the item you want is checked out, you may be able to request that it be held for you when it's returned or, if you are a current W&M student, staff member, or faculty, that it be recalled from the patron who currently has it. W&M students, staff, and faculty also have the option of requesting the item be borrowed from another library through interlibrary loan. To conserve staff time, we request that you choose either a recall or an interlibrary loan.
At this time, circulating books may have holds and recalls placed by eligible patrons. Videos, including DVDs, VHS tapes, and laser discs, may have holds and recalls placed only by W&M faculty or individuals needing videos for class instruction.
Recalls v. Interlibrary Loans
If William and Mary faculty, staff, or students need an item that you have checked out, it may be recalled from you. The library reserves the right to recall any item in order to place the material on reserve for a class or to make it available to another W&M borrower. If an item you have checked out is recalled, we will notify you of the recalled item's new due date.
Please note: overdue recalled items accrue fines. Please see our Borrowing Privileges Charts for details.
For more information on holds and recalls, please ask at the Circulation Desk.
If the item you want should be on the shelf but you can't find it, please ask at the Circulation Desk.
Materials stored at the Swem Off-Site Stacks (SOSS) can be retrieved for you, generally within 48 hours. You may request these items electronically through the Library Catalog web page. Search for the item you need; if its location is Offsite Stacks, click on the Find and Request link and fill in the form. You may also fill out a paper request form at the Circulation Desk. You will be notified when the materials you requested have arrived. You may also check the messages section of My Account (please see instructions above on how to access) for the status of your Off-Site Stacks requests.
Librarians at Swem's Reference Desk can help you locate books, journal articles, government documents, web sites, and much, much more. If you're not finding enough material, please contact them.
More information on borrowing from area public, special, college/university libraries, and at nationwide universities and on interlibrary loan services is available at the following pages:
Borrowing Privileges at Other Libraries
