Circulation Policies & Information
Registration
Library cards may be obtained at the Circulation Desk near the front door of the Library. A photo ID is required to obtain a card.
Two types of library cards are accepted at COD; a Riverside County Library card and a College of the Desert Library card, which is available to faculty and enrolled students. When checking out COD library materials, students should always use their COD Library Card; one free COD library card is provided to students each semester.
Loan Periods
- Circulating Books: 14 days
- Non-circulating materials: Journals, newspapers and reference books are available for in-library use and may not be checked out.
- Textbook Reserves: Two hours. These materials may not leave the building and a valid COD Library card is required to use them.
- Faculty Reserves: These are materials instructors have placed on reserve for use by their students. Generally, they are available for up to two hours and are restricted to in-library use. However, the faculty member who put the item on reserve may allow for a different checkout period (i.e. overnight) if they wish.
Faculty may borrow COD items for an entire semester on their faculty COD library card. In order to do so, they must request this extended loan period at the time of checkout; these items will be subject to recall requests from other COD library users.
Returns
Materials borrowed from the COD Library can be returned to any Riverside County or San Bernardino County library. Rancho Mirage Public Library and Palm Springs Public Library are NOT part of the Riverside County Library System and materials should not be returned to them.
Textbook and Faculty Reserve items borrowed from the Reference Desk must be returned to the Reference Desk.
RenewalsLibrary items may be renewed over the telephone, online, or in person at the Circulation Desk. Renewals are subject to holds placed on items by other library users. To renew items online go to
www.rivlib.net and enter your information in the "My Account" box. To renew items over the telephone, call the Circulation Desk at 760-346-6552. Present your library card to staff at the Circulation Desk when renewing in person.
Interlibrary Loan
Items not obtainable from the COD Library or from the libraries in the COD/Riverside County Library Catalog may be requested at the Reference Desk. Staff will attempt to borrow these materials from libraries throughout the world. Each request is $2.00 and additional fees required by the lending library may apply.
Fees for Overdue or Lost Materials
- The fines for late circulating books are $0.25 a day per book to a maximum of the value of the book. The fines for textbook/reserve books, which are checked out on an hourly basis, are $.10 per minute overdue.
- The fee for a lost or damaged item is the current market price as determined by the librarian plus a $25.00 processing fee.
- All fines and fees must be paid in cash.
- A HOLD WILL BE PLACED ON A DELINQUENT STUDENT'S RECORDS AND TRANSCRIPT UNTIL ALL FINES ARE PAID.
Loss of Privileges
When borrowers prove to be consistently irresponsible, borrowing privileges will be revoked.