Making the most of your Library off-campus

To support students and staff, the library is currently offering postal loans to UK addresses only. This service offer will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Students - When you request a book on Library Search you will see an option to request the item to be sent to either your home or term-time address. Please make sure your student record is up to date with the correct address information. 

Staff - The library doesn’t have staff address information so if you want to use the postal loans service you will need to tell us which address you would like us to use by emailing: hallamhelp@shu.ac.uk. You can then request your books as normal using Library Search. It doesn’t matter whether you choose home or term-time address.

Postage - All postal loans will be sent via Royal Mail recorded delivery. Items will be issued to your account for 2 weeks to allow extra time for them to be posted to you. 

Please be aware that not all items will be suitable to send via postal loans, for example due to their size or condition. We will contact you if this is the case.

To request a postal loan you should follow the steps below.

Please read these instructions before making your request.

Find the book or item you would like to request using Library Search:

Sign in to see the option to make your request.

You will see the options to request items for your home or term-time address, to pick up at Adsetts or Collegiate libraries, or view in the library only. 

If you choose to collect the item(s) from the library,  when your book is ready to collect you will receive an email that will include the details of where to collect your requested items from. Please don't make a journey to collect an item until you have received an email to say your items are available to collect. 

For Postal Loans, you will receive an email confirming the item(s) have been added to your Library Account and have been posted to your selected address. Please allow up to one week for the items to arrive with you before contacting us. 

The library’s freepost returns service is available to anyone who has borrowed library item(s) that have been recalled and recent graduates who still have items on loan. If you have an item that has been recalled or you have completed your studies you’ll receive an email with the details of how to use the freepost service. 

When you post items back to the library please ensure you use secure packaging to avoid any damage. We recommend that you re-use the packaging that your original books were sent in. 

This service offer will be reviewed on an ongoing basis as we monitor demand for returns both on and off campus.

If you think you have recalled items but you haven’t received an email from the library, please contact us hallamhelp@shu.ac.uk

You are welcome to post your items back to the libraries if they haven't been recalled, but you will have to cover the cost of this yourself. We would recommend using recorded delivery to cover yourself against loss. Please post your items back to Adsetts library, even if they are Collegiate items: 

The standard amount of time you can borrow an item for is one week.

If you are a distance learner, part-time student or have a learning contract, you can borrow library items for 2 weeks. 

Books will automatically renew at the end of the loan period unless: 

• they have been requested by someone else
• they have been renewed for a total of 52 weeks
• your account has expired because you have finished your course

Items will automatically renew at the end of each loan period unless:

• they have been requested by someone else
• they have been renewed for a total of 52 weeks
• your account has expired because you have finished your course

Please note: You are only guaranteed the item for its current loan period. Items that can't be renewed need to be returned promptly.  If items are not returned, the replacement cost will be added to your library account which may block you from further borrowing.

It is recommended that you check your Library Account regularly.

We charge fines for any lost or damaged items, please see our Library Fines FAQ for more details.