Course Reserve and Reserve Item FAQ for Students
- What is a course reserve?
- A course reserve is an item that a professor has asked to be set aside for their students, because it has been assigned as part of their course. These items can be owned by the library, but they can also be borrowed from the professor themselves. These items are in high demand, which is why they have been put aside and given different policies.
- What kind of course reserve items are there?
- Library Owned Course Reserve Books
- These are library books that the professor has assigned in a course; they are normally available at the library but can be put on course reserve for up to one year.
- Library Owned Course Reserve DVDs
- These are library DVDs that the professor has assigned in a course; they are normally available at the library but can be put on course reserve for up to one year.
- Professor Owned Course Reserve Books
- These are books or other materials that a professor owns personally and has chosen to bring in and lend them to the library to allow their students access to them. These are especially valuable as they do not belong to the library and are only available through the generosity of the professors.
- Professor Owned Course Reserve DVDs
- These are DVDs that a professor owns personally and has chosen to bring in and lend them to the library to allow their students access to them. These are especially valuable as they do not belong to the library and are only available through the generosity of the professors.
- Photocopy Reserves
- These are articles are portions of books that have been photocopied and printed out to be checked out for students usage, if they are not available online.
- E-Reserves
- E-reserves can be short articles, book-portions, case studies, etc. that have been scanned and uploaded to the library’s online catalog at the request of professors. These items can only be viewed by an @ramapo.edu email, but they can be accessed on any device with internet access. For more information on
- How can I check out a course reserve?
- To check out a course reserve, please bring the item’s call number (which can be found in our online catalog) to the circulation desk. Tell the call number to the student aide at the desk and they will retrieve the item from the storage area and check it out to you.
- How long can I check out a course reserve for?
- All course reserve items can only be checked out for 4 hours at a time, and they have strictly imposed late fees. Please plan accordingly.
- Can I take a course reserve outside of the library?
- All library owned course reserves can be removed from the library, but a few specific professor-owned items can only be used within the library due to their importance. These items will be clearly marked with a note in our online catalog as well as a clearly printed label on the front of the items themselves.
- How can I find a course reserve item on the library website?
- What are the fines for course reserves?
- For any late course reserve item, students will be charged $1 per hour overdue (do to its short check out period) up to $100. From there, lost item charges may vary. For more information please review the “Fines and Fees for Course Reserves section at this link.
- I found my item online, but it says “Request at circulation desk to check out regularly (yellow reserve item)” – what does that mean?
- You may find some items on our catalog have this or a similar note. Most of the items can be checked out for the regular circulation period and are only held on reserve for convenience. These items are not associated with any specific course. For more information please call the circulation desk.
