Tips for borrowing books
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Floor Plans of U-M LibrariesReading the library's floor plan before looking for the item you need can better help you locate it.
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Call NumberKnowing an item’s call number can help you find where it’s located in the library.
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Recommend a PurchaseIf you can't find the items you want, you can make recommendations for books, journals, databases, microforms, videos, or other types of materials by completing a purchase request form.
Borrow and Return Library Materials
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Who can borrow U-M Library materials?To borrow from our library locations, you must have a library card. In most cases this will be your Mcard.
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How long can I keep items?The length of time you can keep library materials varies depending on your university status, the format of the items, and whether they are locally owned or borrowed through interlibrary loan.
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How to renew my items?You can renew local items online through your library account.
How to find my account:
How to find my checkouts:
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How to request return of checked-out items?If you need a library item that’s currently checked out to someone else, you can request it get returned by “recalling” it. This will change the due date for the other person.
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Where can I return items?This link lists several locations of drop boxes where you can return the book and the mail address if you want to return by mailing.
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What happens if I forget about the due date?Students get email about upcoming due dates, materials ready for pick-up, and books recalled by other patrons.
The library only charge for lost items.
4 Ways to get items
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Find the items from the stacks (bookshelves )Stacks that hold books and other materials across library locations are open for browsing and retrieving, which means you can access the books from the stacks yourself and bring them to a circulation desk to check out. However, materials in “offsite shelving,” such as the closed stacks at the Buhr Building, are exceptions.
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Pick Up at a Library DeskUse the "Get This" link in Library Search and then select "Pick it up" at the Library to request items.
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Delivery to Your DepartmentU-M libraries deliver materials to more than 200 verified departmental locations across campus.
Departmental delivery is available to faculty, graduate students, and staff. -
Interlibrary LoanInterlibrary loan is available to faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, permanent staff, people designated as “proxies” who borrow for faculty members, retired faculty and staff, and visiting scholars.
Basic Catalog Search Tips
If you know what title or author you are looking for, or have other specialized limiters like date or language, you can use the advanced search option to the right of the search box.
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Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases (“climate change”).
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There are no words that are excluded from searching. Every word will be searched. For example, if the words "a, an, the" are in your search, the catalog will look for those specific words.
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You can use AND or OR (in all-caps) to ensure that both terms must be in the results, or that one or the other term may be in the results.
Last Updated: Aug 25, 2025 10:43 AM
Subjects: General Information Sources