Policies & Procedures

In order to avail of the borrowing of books, references, and other materials, the students and faculty members and staff should apply for a library card. The following requirements should be presented to the library staff for processing of the card:

• Student:

  • Certificate of Registration
  • University ID Card
  • 1 piece Photo (Passport size)

• Faculty Member/Staff:

  • Employee ID Card
  • 1 piece Photo (Passport Size)

The student, faculty member is required to fill out the application form for a library card. Library card form should be filled out completely and signed for validation and profile entry to the Advanced Institute Management System (AIMS) by the Librarian.

The student, faculty member, and staff can immediately borrow books from the collection.

The holder of the library card is not allowed to have his/her card used by another person for making transaction in the circulation area.

Library card is renewable every semester; it should be validated in the AIMS upon presentation of required documents to the library staff.

Library card is to be kept in the circulation area for easy reference and monitoring.

Borrowing & Returning of Books and Other Materials:

Books and other collection of the library can be accessed through the AIMS as this serves as the online public access catalog (OPAC).  Students, faculty members, and staff can access the workstations at the Receiving area. There are three (3) designated computer terminal for quick searching and for the OPAC.  Library patrons can access the OPAC with the use of the assigned username and password provided by the I.T. department.  The OPAC is searchable through the title of the book, author, subject and classification number.  The status of book availability and its description will be displayed.  OPAC facilitates the searching and borrowing of books.

Circulation book collection can be assessed immediately by the library users with the use of the “open shelf system”.  The library patrons are guided with the signage under the Dewey decimal classification system.  Each shelf has subject coding for systematic organization of the collection. The book titles can be borrowed under certain categories below:

• The students can borrow a maximum of three (3) books for fourteen (14) days per transaction.  It is renewable for another period if there is no demand for such book/s and there are copies available for use by other students.
• Full-time faculty member can borrow ten (10) books per transaction for 112 days.
• Part-time faculty members can borrow five (5) books for 112 days.
• Staff and other employees can borrow five (5) books for 14 days.

• Reserve books can be borrowed for overnight or one (1) day only.
• General reference books are for room use only; selected pages can be photocopied. These books are to be consulted; it contains authoritative information and are not meant to be read from cover to cover. It is in the special section of the library as “Reference Stacks” and has location label of “R” or “Ref”. An example of these books are almanacs, atlases, bibliographies, biographical sources, catalogs, concordances, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, glossaries, handbooks, indexes, manuals, research guides, union lists, yearbooks, etc.
• Journals /magazines and periodicals are for room use only; selected pages can be photocopied.
• These are strictly for room use only and cannot be photocopied.
• Audiovisual materials can be borrowed for one (1) day only. CD/VCD book accompaniment can be borrowed together with the book for a period assigned to a student, faculty member, and staff.
• Books borrowed must be taken care of, borrowers are responsible for all the books borrowed under his/her card.
• Borrowers should check the book/s being borrowed for any damage or missing pages before going out of the library.  If there are similar cases like this, please, report immediately to the librarian/staff.
• Books for renewals should be brought in the Circulation Area for updating in the library system and for proper stamping of date returned and renewal.
• One week before the end of each semester and/or one week before the final examinations, books should be returned to the library to facilitate the signing of examination permit and clearance of students.  The book is no longer allowed to be taken out of the library; it is for room use only.
• The faculty member should return the book borrowed and pay the corresponding fine if any, to facilitate the signing of clearance.

Lost Books & Fines:

• Borrowers who failed to return the book/s on time will be charged with the corresponding overdue .100 fills per day for circulation and reserve books.
• The library staff issues the payment slip for the overdue fine to be presented to the cashier for payment.
• Upon payment, borrowers should submit the official receipt of payment to the library staff for recording in the library card and updating in the library system.
• Library staff should file the receipts of payments in the filing folder for future references.

Lost/Missing Books and Other Library Materials:

• The borrower should immediately inform the library staff if there is a book lost under his/her possession.
• The librarian should write notification on the book lost reported in order to stop the automatic computation of overdue fines with the library system. This is immediately reported to the I.T. personnel as well.
• The book lost book must be replaced with the same title, related title or the latest edition of the same title.  In case the book is not available, the borrower must pay to the Cashier the currently existing amount of the book.
• Fines relating to any overdue material that is lost by the borrower shall accrue until such time as the loss is reported to the library staff.  If the accrued fine is equivalent to the price of the book, the borrower shall pay for the book (computation should consider current price of the material and other related charges on the processing of book) or replace it.
• For the price of a lost book, library staff shall refer from the files on the book purchase summary list, invoice, delivery receipts etc.  If there is no library record for on such price, the library staff should go to the Accounting department verification of the price.

Notification of Overdue Fines and Signing of Clearance:

• Ten (10) days before the examination period and at the end of every term, the library staff prepares the list of students, faculty members and staff with library accountabilities (overdue books and fines).
• The library staff informs the library patrons with accountability through a phone call and email for the recall of book/s and/or another material/s due. Also, for the payment of the fines before the final examination.
• The library staff sends notice to the borrower for the recall of the book, or any library material borrowed. Once the preliminary call or email was ignored by the borrower.
• Returning of overdue book and payment of the fine will be processed immediately on the library card and in the library system for closure of such accountability.
• The final list of accountabilities will be sent to the accounting department for book recall by the library staff and/or collection of fine by the cashier.
• For a faculty member, a list of accountabilities for book and fine will be sent to the dean through email and phone call as a follow up for the recall and/or payment of dues. This is done to maintain and keep the library resources secure for the periodic library inventory.
• In the case of unexpected resignation/termination of the faculty member and staff, such issue will be dealt with the head of the library, program head/dean, head accounting, and library committee.

Conduct in the Library:

• Silence should be observed at all times inside the library.
• Students, faculty members, staff, and visitors should register to the assigned log sheets for monitoring and record purposes.
• Orderliness, calmness, and cleanliness should be maintained for a conducive learning environment for the library patrons.
• A library is a place for reading, studying and research, any form of recreation, playing manipulative games are not allowed inside the library.
• Food and drinks are not allowed in the library; they can attract insects and damage library materials.
• Library user should inform the library staff on the books under his/her possession upon entering the library.
• Bags and other personal belongings should be deposited/ kept in the baggage counter. Mobile phones and other valuable items should not be left inside the bags. The library staff is/are not responsible for any missing or lost items.
• Books and other materials should not be taken out from the library without permission from the library staff.
• Book used or taken from the shelves should not be returned back to the shelves.  Borrowers should put/return books on the area or shelf assigned by the librarian with signage’s “Put used books here for re-shelving by the library staff”.  This will avoid misfiling/wrong shelving of the book. This is also for monitoring and recording in the preparation of utilization reports.
• Desktop computers are for encoding, study, searching and related academic activities only.
• The mobile phones and another gadget should be put in silent mode or turned off when inside the library to avoid disturbance with the other library users. 
• The books and other resources should be taken care of.  The student should not commit such acts as hiding or steal books and other material, writing in books, tearing out pages of books or periodicals or any form of defacement.
• Library staff has the right to request university student ID card when necessary.
• Group visit and/or use of the library and its resources should be coordinated first with the Librarian/staff.
• Violation of the library rules and regulation will be dealt with; accordingly, this may result in the suspension of the library privileges.
• Lost and Found items will be inside the library and will be kept by the library staff in the “Lost & Found” box for safe keeping.  Items will be recorded in the “Lost & Found” log sheet for future reference. Claims of the “lost & found” can be claimed upon giving the correct description of the lost item.  ID/CPR of the owner/claimant should be presented to the library staff. The claimant should sign and reflect the date in the received/claim column of the log sheet.