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If you are a current member of the Birmingham Newman community or have paid for access as an alumnus, former member of staff or external membership, you can click on your borrower category in the list below to see what you are allowed to borrow and for how long.

If the book you wish to borrow is out on loan, you will need to place a reservation. When you reserve a book, we ask the current borrower(s) to return it when it is next due to be renewed. If you don't reserve a book, the current borrower(s) will be able to keep it for up to six months without knowing it is needed by someone else!

You can only reserve books when all of the copies of the book are on loan. If a book is eligible for reservation, a button saying 'Reserve This Item' will appear in its Library Search record.

How to place a reservation

1. Find the item you wish to reserve on Library Search
2. Click 'Reserve This Item'
3. Sign in to your Library Search account if you are not already signed in
4. Click 'Submit request'.

You can reserve up to 5 items at a time. Once you have checked out your reserved item on your account, the reservation is no longer active. You can cancel a reservation at any time in your Library Account. Go to the requests tab, select the request you wish to cancel, and click 'cancel request.'

If a book is available, you must use the shelf mark to find the book yourself. We do not provide a fetching service, unless you are eligible for the Fetch and Proxy service as part of our Privilege scheme.

For more help on how to request a book, watch this video: How to reserve a book (2 minutes)

What happens next?

1. When you submit your request from your Library Search account, the book will stop renewing automatically for the current borrower(s).
2. On the day the book is due back, we will send an email to the current borrower(s) to tell them to return the book.
3. The current borrower(s) have 7 days from the day they receive this email to return the book. If they don't return it on time, we begin to charge fines.
4. Once the book has been returned, we will process it and make it available for you to borrow on the Reservations Shelf on level 1.
5. We email you to tell you the book is available. You then have one week to come to the Library and borrow the book. The email will be sent to your Birmingham Newman email account and come from no-reply@oclc.org.
6. When you come to pick up the book you must issue it to your account using the self-service kiosks, or, during staffed hours, by bringing the book to the Service Desk on level 1. The book is only available to you. No-one else will be able to issue it to their account.
7. If you do not collect the book within one week of the email telling you it is available, it will be re-shelved and made available to all library users.

Please note: We are only able to fulfil requests when the current borrower(s) return items. We charge fines for late return in an effort to encourage borrowers to bring their books back on time. However, please anticipate a minimum waiting period of 7 days between placing your request and being notified that your item is ready for pick-up.

If you are a member of the SCONUL Access scheme visiting from another institution, your borrowing rights are based on the category of membership you have been given by SCONUL. You will be able to find this information on the email or letter you received when you signed up to the Scheme.