Course Reserves Policy

Brown Library at Sterling College 

To ensure the availability of materials when needed by the students, faculty members are asked to observe the following guidelines:

Procedure

Please submit requests to put items on reserve at least 2 days before the materials will be needed. Even earlier than that would be much appreciated!

Leave a note with the items stating your name, the course number, and the course name.  A copy of the course syllabus / reading list would also be appreciated.

If books or other items need to be purchased for reserves, they should be requested 3 to 4 weeks in advance.

At the end of each term or session, materials are automatically removed from reserves, unless otherwise instructed by faculty.

Personal Copies

Faculty may place personal copies of books or other materials on reserve.  An identification band will be put around the cover of a personal copy and it will be checked into the circulation system using a barcode on a card.

The library may purchase copies of faculty’s personal copies to include in the collection.

Copyright Guidelines

Faculty is responsible for complying with copyright law for their reserve materials. Items that fall under fair use, as well as those that are not covered by copyright, may be placed on reserve without obtaining copyright permission or paying copyright royalties.

The library will not place materials on reserve without permission if the nature, scope, or extent of copying is judged by the library to exceed the reasonable limits of fair use. Faculty must obtain permission or pay appropriate royalties in order to place copies of longer works (or substantial portions of longer works) on reserve.

• All photocopied materials must include a notice of copyright:  Copyright © [year] [name of copyright owner] e.g. Copyright © 1983, Alice Walker.
• The library staff recommends that there be one copy for every eight to ten users. It is the responsibility of the faculty to be certain there are an adequate number of copies for the amount of usage.  Users may make one copy for private study, personal reading, research, scholarship, or education.
• Copies of a chapter of a book may be placed on reserve for one term or session; use of the copies in subsequent terms requires the permission of the copyright holder and possibly the payment of a fee.
• Copies of periodical articles may be placed on reserve for one term or session; use of the copies in subsequent terms requires the permission of the copyright holder and possibly the payment of a fee.
• The copies of articles or book chapters, etc. on reserve for a course should not be so numerous as to substitute for a textbook.
• The library will not place the following materials on reserve: interlibrary loan materials (violation of the ILL code), photocopied course packs lacking copyright permission, “consumable” publications such as standardized tests, exercises, or workbooks, and illegally copied or rented videos or recordings.
• The following local establishments have been used by faculty who wish to create course packs:

*Please note that the storage of course reserve boxes (upstairs in the library) containing articles, pamphlets, and other materials, is not a common practice.  Faculty members are responsible for the continued maintenance and updating of these boxes.

Adopted by the Library Committee:  11/7/2006