If you have items that are due for return we notify you of this. These could be, for example, books that have been reserved and therefore not eligible for automatic renewal. As the first series of reminders is sent by email to your university email address, please login to that regularly.

The notifications and reminders are a courtesy service, intended to help you plan your library use and avoid you having overdue loans which could prevent you from borrowing. As they are automatically generated, they are subject to system availability and it remains your responsibility to keep track of your own library account and to return all items you have borrowed on time, whether or not the alerts are sent or received.

Email alerts and overdue reminders  - BU students and staff

Once your item is overdue, you will be sent a series of reminders:

  • By email when the item is one day overdue and then when it is one week overdue
  • By letter, including an invoice for a replacement copy, when the item is over three weeks overdue.

If you have a query regarding an overdue reminder you have received, please contact us - either by email to Library Support or by phoning Library Enquiries. Tel. +44 (0)1202 965959

When an item you have borrowed becomes overdue, your library account will be blocked. You will not be entitled to borrow any more items until you have returned all overdue items and/or settled any invoice we have sent you by either providing a replacement copy or paying the invoice in full.

All overdue reminders will be deemed sent, whether received by you or not.

If you change your address, it is your responsibility to notify your programme administrator or use the form on the Student webpages under Log-in services.

Item queries

We encourage you to look at your library account regularly to check your loans. Contact us immediately if there are any items showing that you think you have already returned.

We will ask you for details about when and where you returned the item and we will then complete an online item query form attached to your library account. This process allows you to carry on borrowing while we, and you, make further checks. 

The queried item(s) will be shelf-checked the next working day and weekly thereafter.

If we find the item during a shelf-check, it will be removed from your library account. If the item has not been found by us or you by the time it is three weeks overdue, we will send you an invoice for the replacement cost.

Please remember, once an item you have borrowed becomes overdue, your library account will be blocked. You will not be entitled to borrow any more items until you have returned all overdue items or settled any invoice we have sent you by either providing a replacement copy or paying the invoice in full.

To avoid replacement charges caused by incorrectly returned items remaining on your library account, please make sure you:

  • check your library account regularly. Use the 'My Account' option on mySearch
  • access your university emails regularly
  • read the on-screen messages and printed receipt when you return your items at the self-service units and only leave your book on the returns trolley if the system confirms the item has been successfully removed from your library account.