UNM Los Alamos

Overdue, Lost and Damaged Materials Policy

Overdue, Lost and Damaged Materials Policy

Currently, the UNM-LA Library does not assess fines for materials that are simply overdue, up to two overdue notices.

  • Two "overdue" notices without fines are sent to patrons as a reminder to either renew (up to three renewals are allowed) or return the overdue materials.

  • The third notice places overdue items into "billed" status and assesses an $80.00 per item replacement charge, which gets posted on the patron's library and financial records at UNM.  Returning overdue items that are in "billed" status will reduce the $80.00 replacement charge to a $10.00 per item fine, if items are returned in good condition.

  • Patrons reporting library materials as lost or returning items to the library severely damaged* will be assessed $80.00 per item in order to replace the lost or damaged items.

  • University students, faculty, and staff with outstanding charges will have a hold** placed on their UNM account and will not be able to check out any other materials until the bill has been resolved.

  • Community patrons with outstanding charges will not be able to check out any other library materials and will lose all library privileges until the bill has been resolved.

  • Such bills may be resolved by doing one of the following:

    • Return the overdue items and pay a $10.00/item fine***
    • For lost or damaged items: pay the $80.00/item replacement charge OR purchase replacement copies**** and pay a processing fee of $10.00/item

*water damaged, stained, badly torn, chewed, or other damage beyond normal wear and tear necessitating replacement

**A hold placed on a UNM account will result in one or more of the following:  inability to register for classes; withholding of university transcripts; withholding of financial aid; submission to a collections agency.

***Overdue items that are in "billed" status may not be renewed against the existing checkout record.  The materials must be brought back to the library and checked in, and a fine of $10.00/item paid before checking out library materials, including all in-house-use materials such as reserves, sound recordings, and a computer mouse.

****If exact replacements are not available, acceptable substitutions must be approved by the Library Director prior to making the purchase.

Thank you for your cooperation!

rev. 8/31/2010