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IAU Library Basics: Book Circulation

Library Membership and Circulation Policy

Membership

The libraries at the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) are open to the following membership types:

 Internal members:

  • All IAU affiliates, including: students, faculty and staff are eligible for free library membership.

 External members:

  • External Membership is subject to a Refundable Security Deposit (Earnest Money) of SAR500.
  • Members are enrolled for a period of one year, which is renewable at the user’s request.
  • A member willing to renew the membership for another year will have to submit the below-mentioned valid documents afresh.
  • No library membership fee is charged.

Required documents for library membership:

  • Completed library membership application form.
  • A copy of National ID (Saudi Nationals) OR 
  • Iqama/ valid passport (non-Saudi applicants).
Issuable materials

Single or multi-volume books (Textbooks and general books). Textbooks and General books’ issuance will be treated separately with respect to the Duration and Users’ category.

Non-issuable materials Reference books, cultural works, manuscripts, rare books, statistics, graphs, theses, periodicals (English/ Arabic), audiovisual materials, microfilms, e-resources, bulletins, book notes, research reports, one copy of every textbook, and books in use of library staff.
 

Number of book allowed

Issuance Period Late Return Fine

Books Reserve Privilege

Membership

Category

Text-books General books Text-books General books First 10 days After 10 days No of books Reserve Period
IAU Faculty/ Teaching Staff 05 books (including maximum 03 text-books) 05 books (including maximum 03 text-books) 03 weeks 03 weeks SAR 2 Per day Per book SAR 5 Per day Per book 05 One week
IAU Graduate Students 05 books (including maximum 03 text-books) 05 books (including maximum 03 text-books) One week Two Weeks SAR 2 Per day Per book SAR 5 Per day Per book 05 One week
IAU Under-graduate Students 03 books 03 books One week Two Weeks SAR 2 Per day Per book SAR 5 Per day Per book 03 One week
IAU Staff (Non-teaching)

03 books

(Text-books/ general books).

03 books

(Text-books/ general books).

One week Two Weeks SAR 2 Per day Per book SAR 5 Per day Per book 03 One week
External Users X 03 X Two Weeks SAR 2 Per day Per book SAR 5 Per day Per book X X
  • Any renewal of issued items should be made one day before the due date, and the renewal will be for further one week only. 
  •  Renewals can be made through the library’s website, or in person.
  •  For re-issue of a returned item, borrowers must wait for THREE days until they can borrow the same returned book again, provided that the same title is not required by another borrower. 
  •  The members can collect their reserved books on a first come, first serve basis. If a member fails to collect the reserved books, he/she will forfeit his/her reservation.
  •  In the case of overdue books, the system will start calculating fine, and the library will send two reminders; 

             a) First due-date notification will be sent one day prior to the due-date.

             b) Second notification will be sent after the three (03) days of expiry of due-date.

  • The user account will be blocked/ barred when the unpaid fine amount touches the maximum limit of SAR 300. The user can immediately re-activate account by paying the fined amount. But if the user repeats the same, the account will be blocked for one month.
  • If a student’s account is not cleared within 45 days, he/she will lose his/ her library privileges for a period of an entire semester.
  • No category of library users may terminate the relationship with the university or library until clearance has been obtained from the library.

  • If any borrower loses his or her books or causes apparent damage to them, making it impossible to make full use of them or part of them, the library must be compensated with another book of the same edition, title, date of publication, or newer edition, and the book should be in excellent condition, in addition to the value for technical processing of the book (25 Riyals).
  • If the user is unable to provide a copy of the same book, he will pay for it or pay for the last edition of it, plus the value for the technical processing (SAR 25).
  • If the book is out of print or is one of the donated books and does not have a price tag, the library management estimates its price and adds to it the value of the technical processing (25 Riyals). The committee's estimate is final and may not be disputed.
  • The user is denied access to library services if he violates any of the conditions of the library's policy and exposes himself to sanctions in accordance with the university's established regulations.
  • Borrowing is not permitted at all without the university ID card for university students, faculty, and staff.
  • The material can be renewed by the user in person from the library or from the website of the Deanship of Library Affairs through the user services.
  •  The library may recall the issued material during the borrowing period.
  • It is not permissible to borrow two copies of the same book.
  • When the borrower receives the book, this is an acknowledgment that the book is in good condition and it must be returned in the same condition.
  • The library has the right to determine the duration of the borrowing of frequently borrowed books.
  • Fines are collected by the employees of the leading departments of the University libraries of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University or automatically deducted through electronic services.
  • The amounts due to the delay are deposited in the student fund.

How to search, locate, and check-out a book

  1. Browsing by subject - All library material is arranged according to the Library of Congress classification (LC) scheme, and can be browsed by subject
  2. On campus/off campus, visit the library catalog and get the call number from the library catalog
  3. Check the availability status of books online
  4. If the book is available in the library, grab that one and come to the circulation counter for the issue
  5. If already issued, then reserve online by using your IAU student ID and PIN (if the PIN is not known, please ask the circulation staff for your PIN)
  6. You can borrow the books by using your IAU ID and Library PIN through the self-check-out machines available in all the libraries
  7. You can also contact the library circulation staff for the issue/return of the books.

How to Renew a Book

  1. Visit library catalog: https://catalog.iau.edu.sa
  2. Login to your account.
    1. Faculty should use their email ID and password
    2. Students can use their IAU ID and national ID as PIN
    3. In case you dont know your PIN you may contact Library reception staff at 01333 32831
  3. After successful login click on my account and select Renew My material link.
  4. you may renew all or select the check-box for the item you want to renew and press the Renew Selected Items Button.