Borrowing Materials & Library Use Policies

Checkout periods for students

Books: 1 semester, or until recalled by another user

Reserve items: Materials placed on reserve by faculty may be used in the library, for up to 4 hours

Magazines and journals: Issues may be checked out for 7 days.

Graphing calculators: 1 semester. You will be asked to fill out the graphing calculator agreement form when you check one out.

Laptops: Laptops may be checked out for up to 48 hours, with only one checkout per week. This is to allow all students access to this important resource. Subject to availability. Please fill out laptop agreement.

Hotspots: A limited number of hotspots are available for semester-long checkout to current Kirkwood students. Contact the library to find out if any are available, or to get on the wait list. 

Before checking out a hotspot, you will need to complete a Hotspot Checkout Agreement Form.

Reference and Special Collections: for use in library only.

Other items available for use in the Library 

Technology items 

• Headphones 
• USB flash drives
• Phone chargers (as available)

Miscellaneous other resources

• Dry erase markers
• Staplers & 3-hole punch
• Paper cutter
• Photo copier & printers
• Study rooms are available on the 2nd floor of the library for small group or individual study. Non-reserved rooms may be used on a first-come, first-served basis. A room can be reserved in advance.

Renewing Materials

• To renew library materials, contact us or renew online via My Library Account. 

Request delivery or place a hold

• Request library materials to be delivered to your campus or center by locating the item in the online catalog and clicking "Place Hold". Directions on the Center Delivery page.
• Request library materials that are checked out to another user be placed on hold by following the same directions on the Center Delivery page. Your request will prevent the current borrower from renewing the item, and you will be notified when the item is ready for pickup.

Fines & Stops

• The Library no longer charges late fines for most items. However materials must still be returned promptly, and students will be charged for the replacement cost of unreturned items.
• The Library may send courtesy reminder(s) of overdue materials to your student email. It remains the responsibility of the borrower, however, to return materials promptly.​ 
• Failure to return materials will result in blocked class registration, graduation and receipt of transcripts. 

Checkout periods for faculty & staff

Most materials can be checked out for 1 term

Renewing Materials

Contact us or renew online under "My library account". 

Recalls & Holds

• Request library materials to be delivered to your campus or center by locating the item in the online catalog and clicking "Place Hold". Directions on the Center Delivery page.
• Holds for materials checked out to another use may also be placed following the directions on the Center Delivery page. 
• Materials requested will be delivered directly to the borrower through campus mail. Holds for staff or faculty at a center will be delivered to the center office.  

More Faculty Services

• Visit the Faculty Services page to see the many different ways the Library can help you with your teaching needs!
• Locate resources
• Instruct students in research skills
• Collaborate with you on innovative approaches to creating research assignments, and more.

Book Scanner

Documents scanned on a copier for posting online often do not meet accessibility standards. The Library provides access to a high quality scanner for faculty and staff use. Instead of taking a picture of a text document, it scans the document and saves the scanned file as machine readable text.

The flatbed "book edge" scanner also makes scanning pages of a book much simpler and with a clearer image. 

If you have material to be scanned and posted online (e.g. Talon), stop by the Library and ask about using our scanner. You may also make an appointment with our Digital Services Librarian for a brief demonstration.

Library Course Reserves

Kirkwood Library provides a course reserves service to faculty. Materials are located at the circulation desk. It provides a way for faculty to share items students may need for their course work. Please review the policy, and fill out the form below to place items on reserve for your students, typically for in-library use and a 4-hour time limit.

Contact us for questions and comments:

              Cedar Rapids Campus Library                                                                
              Phone: 319-398-5696                                   
              Email: circulation@kirkwood.edu

Materials added to reserve:

• Please allow two business days for processing of items submitted for course reserve, before they will be available for student checkout.
• The Library does not purchase textbooks to add to reserve for student checkout. Any copies of textbooks must be provided by the instructor.
• The Library can add almost any kind of physical materials to course reserves. Examples include: books, journals, photocopied articles, special technology or equipment (such as digital cameras or a rock collection), and books already owned by the Library. Putting a Library book on reserve limits students to 4 hour checkout rather than the usual semester-long checkout.
• The Library cannot place interlibrary loan materials on reserve.

Checkout periods for course reserves

• Most reserve materials may be checked out for up to four hours, and must be used in the Library. If you would like a longer checkout period, please describe in the form.

Are you a distance student who can't make it to a Kirkwood campus or county center?  No problem! Kirkwood Library Services is here to help, regardless of your location!

You can access most information online through our Library WorldCat search, and through our online databases. Just have your k number and password ready to enter:

We also deliver print books and interlibrary loan books to all of Kirkwood’s seven-county centers (Benton, Linn, Jones, Iowa, Johnson, Cedar or Washington counties). Follow the directions below to hold a book that's checked out, or deliver a book to a different location:

See our Center Delivery guide for even more information on services and resources for our off-campus students. 

Circulation records and other records identifying the names of library users are confidential. By law the library is prohibited from revealing the name of any person who has checked out, requested, or used library materials, except to the person themselves.