Circulation Policies
General Guidelines
Students registering with the UT-H School of Public Health Houston campus are issued an ID badge that is also used as a library card and for building access. Your ID card is valid for the duration of your tenure at our institution. At the beginning of each semester, you will be asked by the SPH circulation assistants to present your ID with the fee paid sticker issued by the UTHSC-H registrar's office. (If you are not registered, you do not have borrower's privileges. You are welcome to use the Library but you may not charge out materials, nor will you have remote access to the Library's online databases and e-journals.) The SPH Library uses the barcode on the back of this card to check out materials to you, so please do not cover it up with your fee paid sticker!
Your ID card is also honored at the libraries within the Texas Health Science Libraries Consortium (THSLC), but the SPH Library validates your access so be certain your record is current with us before you go to a member library in the Medical Center.
When you are about to graduate or if you take a leave of absence from SPH, you are expected to clear the library system at the SPH Library.
Regional Campus SPH Students, Staff, and Faculty
Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso, and San Antonio: The libraries of the regional campuses have agreed to give you access to their books as well as online databases and journals. Please be certain to check their collections first.
UT-Austin: You can borrow books directly from the UT-Austin libraries with a TexShare card. Please request a card if you would like to use the UT-Austin libraries.
If you need a journal article or book that is not available at your host institution but is available in the SPH Library or one of the THSLC libraries, please use SPH Library Home page--> Ask an expert--> Request an Document Delivery form to request it. Be sure to include your campus and the complete citation: Title of the article, author of the article, journal title, year, volume, issue, or pages or title of the book, author of the book, publication year, and edition (if relevant).
If you need an item that is not available at your host insititution or from the SPH Library, you can request it through SPH Library Home page--> Ask an expert--> Request an Document Delivery.
You may also borrow directly from the SPH Library if you are in Houston. To receive borrowing privileges, you will need to complete a borrower's form at the SPH Library. Once we have verified that you are currently enrolled and you are input into our system, you will be eligible to borrow books from the SPH library as well as any of the libraries within the THSLC..
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Returning Library Materials
Library materials borrowed from SPH Library may be returned to the return book bin located just outside the south entrance doors of the SPH Building or to the SPHL circulation desk. Library customers from the satellite campuses should be able to use the Texshare courier system of their host institution's library to send materials back to the SPH Library.
A courier service operates between the HAM-TMC Library (Jones) and SPHL on weekday mornings. Items which have been borrowed from HAM-TMCL may be returned at the SPH Library, but you are responsible for all fines accrued if the item is overdue. Please alert the SPH Library circulation assistant when returning materials that are to be routed to HAM-TMC. Materials borrowed from the other libraries in the consortium are to be returned directly to the lending library.
Loan Periods
Your current ID/library card must be presented at the circulation desk in order to check out any SPH Library materials. Some rules vary for patrons from other THSLC institutions.
- Books circulate for 2 weeks.
- Theses circulate for 1 week.
- Bound journals circulate for 3 days.
- Unbound journals circulate for 1 day, and are to be returned by 9:00 am on the following day.
Course & Permanent Reserves Loan Policies
Class reserve items are located behind the Circulation Desk. Ask Circulation Staff for assistance. Textbooks and other course reserve materials are to be used in the SPH Library, i.e. they may not leave the Library.
Other items (non-course reserves) may leave the library.
Materials typically circulate for 3 hours, 1 day or 3 days, depending on the item. Most permanent reserve books circulate for one to three days.
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Renewing of Books, Journals, and Reserves
Items may be renewed unless another user has previously requested the use of the same item. Renewal of high-use course reserves may be denied at the discretion of the circulation staff. An item may be renewed twice over the phone. After the second renewal, the item must be returned to the library. If you would like to borrow the item again, you may do so as long as another patron has not placed a hold on it.
Placing Holds on Books and Journals
If there is an item you need but it is checked out, you may place a hold on that item. This acts as a reservation for you for that particular item. You will be notified as soon as the item is available. Note that holds are not available for course reserves.
Borrowing from Libraries Outside the Medical Center
HARLiC (Houston Area Libraries Consortium)
The Fondren Library of Rice University and the University of Houston Libraries provide an important supplement to the Texas Medical Center's library resources. SPH students and faculty are eligible to borrow materials directly from these and other libraries of the Houston Area Research Library Consortium (HARLIC). A special HARLIC card may be obtained at the HAM-TMC Library circulation desks.
If you are a HARLiC cardholder from Rice, U of H, or other HARLiC member, please register with the HAM-TMC Library or UTMB Library first before borrowing materials from the SPH Library.
Texshare Program for Off-Campus Students:
If you are an SPH students who is not affiliated with the satellite campuses in El Paso, San Antonio, or Dallas but you live outside the Houston campus, the Texshare Card will give you borrowing privileges at most academic libraries, including UT- Austin.
For further information on the Texshare program and to obtain a Texshare card, call (713) 500-9121. Users can also visit the Texshare home page for additional information.
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