Overdues - penalties points, invoices, encumbrances

Penalty Points

The Library does not charge fines for overdue material that is on loan. A Penalty Point system is used instead.

Status	Definition	Number of points per item, per day overdue
Overdue	Item has not been returned by the due date	1
Hold	Item has been requested by another borrower	1
Recalled	Item has been requested by another borrower and urgently recalled to the library. The due date may have changed.	3
Note: Overdue item from the Reserve collection	Item that has been borrowed from the Reserve collection in the library. These items have been identified by your lecturer/librarian as being in high demand by a large number of students, and only available for a short loan period.	5

Blocked from borrowing

Near the beginning of each year, penalty points are wiped from each borrowers record. When a borrower reaches a total of 100 points they will be automatically stopped from borrowing all items (including Reserve items). To have their borrowing privileges reinstated they need to contact the Library. If they reach 100 penalty points again within the academic year, they will be automatically blocked from borrowing, and once they have contacted library staff, they will be suspended from borrowing for a further 4 weeks, though they will be able to borrow Reserve items.

Renew overdue items

You are able to renew your overdue items but will still accrue penalty points.

Notices

Notices (reminder and overdue) are sent as a coutesy only. Deakin University Library will not guarantee delivery to your email address, or postal address, and will not monitor and/or manage undeliverable messages. You should not rely on these notices, it is your responsibility to return library materials by the due date.

Invoices

Times when you do have to pay money:

Invoice for long overdue (7 weeks):You will be invoiced for long overdue items (7 weeks overdue), $110 per item and non returned items (lost), or if the item is returned you will still need to pay an billing fee of $11 per item.
Billing (invoice) fee: If you return an item that has been invoiced seven weeks after the due date, you will be billed $11 per item ($10 cost of invoice and $1 GST).

Lost or damaged items

If you lose or damage a book you may be required to pay the replacement cost of $110 ($60 for the item, $30 processing fee, $10 invoice fee, $10 GST).

If you would like to replace the lost item with a new or good quality second hand copy in acceptable condition, the cost of $27.50 will still need to be paid. If you replace the item before you are invoiced for it the cost will be reduced to $16.50.

Once you have been invoiced you will not be able to borrow items until you have paid the invoice, or it has been cleared by the appropriate library staff member.

Students with outstanding charges may be blocked from accessing the Deakin network, receiving results and graduating.

Encumbrances - non payment of invoices

Invoices need to be paid or an encumbrance will be placed on the borrowers record. An encumbrance is a block on the student's account. Once fines have been cleared the encumbrance will be lifted and access to all services will be returned.

Staff

Deakin University staff do not accrue penalty points unless an item is on hold or recalled. Staff are liable for invoicing and replacement fees for lost and damaged items and for items returned more than seven weeks late.

For the complete borrowing policy see the Conditions of Loan and Library Use.