Library Policies

The Borrower Services Policy is intended to clearly define eligible borrowers and their borrowing privileges.

To ensure currency, accuracy and thoroughness, this document will be reviewed annually by the Manager, Library Services. If immediate changes are required, they will be made throughout the year and shared with staff to ensure consistently high quality service.

Service priority is extended to the information needs of students and faculty currently registered with Sheridan College as well as staff currently directly-employed by the College.

Borrowing privileges are also extended to the following groups:

• Sheridan Alumni;
• Direct Borrowers who are currently registered students and employees of any Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology participating in Direct Borrower's Agreement;
• Guest Borrowers who include externally-contracted staff at Sheridan and university students participating in the joint programs with Sheridan College.

Please note: Sheridan Library's e-Resources are only available for current students (including students registered in joint programs), Faculty, and Staff of the College due to licensing agreements with vendors. 

Sheridan Library services and space are not intended for use by members of the public.

The Sheridan OneCard is required to borrow materials and review accounts and is non-transferable. The OneCard may be obtained at your campus OneCard Office.  Lost OneCards must be reported to your OneCard Office and replaced for a cost determined by their policies.

Eligible borrowers who are not issued a OneCard by the College will be issued a white library card with a unique barcode when they register in-person at any campus circulation desk. Activation of library cards is immediate. Lost library cards must be reported to Sheridan library staff immediately, in-person or by phone. Replacement cards are free of charge.

To register for a library card:

• part-time students must present photo ID with address as well as Sheridan registration;
• direct borrowers must present current student ID or barcode sticker for their home institution ID in addition to photo ID with address. Part-time students or employees may not have been issued an ID by the home college. Documentation such as registration or employment contract as well as another piece of photo ID with address is acceptable as long as the document features a start and end date;
• alumni borrowers are subject to a non-refundable annual fee of $20.00 and must present their alumni card (or a copy) along with photo ID including address; and
• guest borrowers must present photo ID with address, proof of employment (OneCard, paystub) or program registration where applicable.

Sheridan College protects the confidentiality of borrower records including the circulation of material, interlibrary/intercampus loan transactions, reference queries, reserve requests and the use of audio-visual materials as collected under the legal authority of the College and Universities Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.M19, section 5 Reg. 770.

Borrowers are responsible for all materials charged on their card including any items borrowed on someone else's behalf. All borrowers are responsible for ensuring that materials are returned on time and in good condition. Borrowers will be fined, up to the cost of the material(s) on loan, for any damages incurred during the borrowing period.

It is also the borrower's responsibility to notify the Office of the Registrar of any change of contact information so that library records remain up-to-date. Borrowing privileges are suspended while fines in excess of $10.00 are outstanding. Please refer to the Fines Policy. 

Borrowers are responsible for monitoring their Sheridan email account for important communications.  Sheridan email accounts are the official and sole means of electronic communication for all confidential information regarding library accounts – including, but not limited to, overdue fine notifications, renewing books, and PIN confirmations and changes. This is in accordance with section 4.1, point 23 of the Acceptable Use Policy.

The Acceptable Use Policy states:
"All Sheridan communications must utilize a platform approved by Sheridan. All faculty and employees will only use their Sheridan e-mail address for email correspondence. Sheridan e-mail address shall be considered an official means for communicating with all students, faculty, and employees and may in some cases be the sole means of communication. Faculty, employees and students are expected to check their email on a frequent and consistent basis in order to stay current with Sheridan-related communications unless on a Sheridan approved leave. Faculty, employees, and students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time-critical."

Loan periods are determined by the category of borrower and the type of material.

Borrowers are issued a due date receipt after checking out materials. Since Sheridan Library is open during weekends, due dates may fall on Saturday or Sunday.

Please refer to the charts below to determine how long you can borrow from the Sheridan Library collection.

1. Current Sheridan College Students and Staff

2. Current Full-time and Part-time Sheridan College Faculty

* University of Toronto Research Card is also available to full time staff

3. Sheridan College Alumni

Please note: Sheridan Alumni who have paid the $20 annual registration fee with the Library can borrow items such as print books and periodicals, DVDs, and CDs. Alumni do not have access to electronic resources due to licensing agreements with vendors.

4. Direct Borrowers and Guest Borrowers

Students may borrow materials during the two week break between the current and next semesters as long as they have paid their fees. Students must show their timetable for proof of registration. Borrowing is available to new students on the first day of the semester.

Students who have paid their co-op fee and are on co-op are considered current students with the relevant privileges.

To extend the loan period on an item, borrowers may request a renewal. You can renew an item by phoning or visiting your campus library, or through the library website. Requests for renewals must be made on or before the item’s due date.

Renewals are not permitted if the item already has a hold on it, if there are overdue fines, and/or you have exceeded the maximum number of renewals allowed. Renewals are also not allowed for reserve items, reference items and short term loan items.

Borrowers may put materials on hold when an item is already on loan to another user or when the material is located at another Sheridan campus library. Holds may be placed online through the library catalogue, in person, or over the phone.

To place an item on hold online, borrowers need to use their Sheridan ID number and PIN. Students may request their PIN in person at their campus circulation desk. They must present their Sheridan OneCard or Sheridan library card. Borrowers are notified by Sheridan email when their hold(s) are available for pick up. Holds are kept behind the circulation desk for one week.

Holds may not be placed on reserves, reference items, short term loan items or audio-visual material.

Bookings are required for audio-visual materials and may be done in-person or over the phone.

Borrowers who require an item that is not available in Sheridan library collections may request an inter-library loan from another library. Please see the ILL Policy for details.

Most library materials can be borrowed; however reference items (labelled with a sticker on the item’s spine) are for in-library use only and may be used by all types of eligible borrowers. The reference collection includes any item in the general, and legal collections, along with any accompanying audio-visual material. If faculty require these items to leave the library, they must consult with their faculty library liaison.

Reserve items are high-demand materials which may be used in the library for 2 hours by current full-time and part-time Sheridan students. Reserve materials are located behind the circulation desk. Any exceptions to loan periods are made at the discretion of the faculty member who placed the item on reserve. Reserves may only be renewed after a wait of 30 minutes.

Textbooks are considered short term loans and may be borrowed for 3 hours. Holds and renewals are not allowed, but items may be re-checked out by the same patron a half hour after check-in. All short term loan items may be identified by labels on the spine of the items and are permitted outside of the Library and Learning Commons space. Short term items may not be borrowed by alumni, direct borrowers or guest borrowers. Any short term loan item borrowed after 7pm must be returned before 9:45pm the same day to a Library services desk. Short term loan items may not be returned via the book drop. Please see the Fines policy for late items.

Please note that the Library does not have all textbooks from Sheridan courses in our collection. Textbooks that are not available in our collection may be purchased at the Bookstore.

Special Items are library materials that may be borrowed but fall outside the typical borrowing policies for print and audio-visual materials. Such items include, but are not limited to, board games, Active Matter materials, and game consoles.

Borrowing policies for game consoles:

1. All current faculty and students can borrow the game consoles. 
2. The game consoles can only be used at the Trafalgar campus.
3. The game consoles are located at the Trafalgar Library only.
4. Consoles can be borrowed for up to 18.5 hours with no renewals.
5. You cannot place a hold on the consoles, but you may book them ahead of time in-person or by calling the Library Service desk at the Trafalgar Campus Library, ext. 2482. 
6. Consoles must be returned to the Trafalgar Library Service Desk and may not be returned via the book drop.
7. There will be a $1.00 per hour fine if a console is returned late.
8. Users will be charged the cost value of any item, as determined by the Library, if game console items are damaged or are missing.

During periods between semesters when classes are not in session, faculty may borrow items for an extended loan period. The loan period is at the discretion of Library management and is on a case-by-case basis. If an item is borrowed for an extended period of time by faculty, and a student makes a request for this same item, faculty will be asked to return the item to accommodate the student's request. Please contact Marian Traynor or Lisa Eschli with extended loan requests.