For members of the NSCAD community, your ID card, with a barcode on the back, is your library card.
For students, faculty and staff of other academic institutions in Nova Scotia, you can use your institution's ID card to borrow items from the NSCAD library.
Members of the public have access to, and may also borrow from, the collection. As of September 2009, the library provides off-campus borrowers' cards free of charge through the Libraries Nova Scotia initiative. Alternatively, patrons who present a public library card and one piece of photo ID from any public library system within Nova Scotia will gain borrowing access to the library's collections.
ID/Off Campus Borrower cards must be used for all loan and renewal transactions. Lost cards and changes of address should be reported immediately to the Circulation Desk.
Please note that during semesters certain materials, including reserves and media collections, are for NSCAD University student, faculty, and staff use only.
All rare and archival material is for anyone to use within the library. To view these items please call the Library at (902) 494-8181 to book an appointment.
Books, exhibition catalogues, and pamphlet files in the circulating collection are available for three-week loan periods for undergraduate students, staff, and public patrons and 60-day loan periods for faculty and graduate students.
There is no limit on the number of items you can borrow. The due date is stamped in the back of the book, and you can always check your account on the library catalogue to see what items you have out and when they are due back to the library.
Reference books are for anyone to use within the library.
You can renew your books as long as no-one else has placed a hold on them, and if your total fines are under $10.00. There is a maximum of three renewals per item. You may renew your books yourself from any computer that has access to the Novanet library catalogue; use the barcode from the back of your ID card and your library password to access your library account from any page of the catalogue. Items must be renewed before they are due; otherwise, go to any Novanet library circulation desk for assistance. There is no telephone renewal service.
You may place a hold on any item out on loan and will be notified by email when that item has been returned to its home library.
If you have an urgent need for a NSCAD item that is out on loan, it may be recalled and held for you, regardless of the loan period assigned to the original borrower. Ten days are allowed for the return of the item. This may be shortened to three days if the item is overdue. You will be notified by email or phone when the item is available. It will be held for you for seven days.
Fines for overdue recalled items are higher than normal.
Fines on overdue items are charged for every day the library is open, at the following rates:
| Regular material | | $0.25 per day per item |
| Recalled material | | $1.00 per day per item |
| Reserve/Restricted Loans | | $0.25 per hour per item; $5.00 per day per item |
For regular and recalled material, the maximum fine per item is $20.00.
Fines may be paid at any Novanet library.
If items are lost or damaged while on loan, borrowers are responsible for paying the current replacement cost, as determined by the library staff. The item must be damaged enough to make it unusable (for example, any number of pages, or portions of pages, missing or unreadable; pages stuck together; or water damage).
Print journals (current and back issues) are for anyone to use within the library.
Required readings for NSCAD University courses are located in the Reserve Collection at the circulation desk. Selected by faculty members for each course, these items are available for three hour loan in library and one hour loan outside the library. For more information consult the Reserves section of the library website.
For more information about borrowing from the library's visual resources, please visit the Visual Resources Collection web page.