Circulation Policy
To check items out from the library, bring them to the desk along with your card. (If you do not have your library card with you, you can show photo ID, such as a driver's license, and we can look you up based on that.) A library employee will check your items out to you. In order to check out items, your account must not have more than $1 in outstanding fines and fees.
Most items circulate for a period of two weeks and may be renewed up to three times provided there is not a hold (reserve) on the item. Certain items have special rules, covered below.
If your item can be renewed on the due date, the system will automatically renew it for you. There are some cases where this may not happen, e.g., if there is a hold that has not been filled yet at the moment the system tries to renew, then the automatic renewal will not happen even if the hold is later filled by another copy of the same item, making your copy renewable. In such cases, you can call the library to renew, or renew the item online.
Overdue Items
Overdue Fines
New Video$1 per item per day
Videogame$1 per item per day
Mobile Hotspot$2 per item per day
Activity Kit$1 per item per day
Board Game$1 per item per day
Otherno overdue fines as such
Items returned in the book drop overnight count as having come back the previous evening, even if they come back after midnight. Once we open in the morning, the next day starts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are quarantining all returned items for several days, then back-dating the checkins to compensate so that no overdue fines are charged for the quarantine days. This is a special situation during the pandemic and will not be the usual rule once things get back to normal.
One-Week Items
Videos, whether DVD or Blu-Ray, as well as videogames and equipment (e.g., the telescope) and activity kits and board games, circulate for one week, except for new releases, which go out for just three days. Please return your movies when you are done with them, so that someone else can have a chance to check them out. You may have up to 5 video items checked out at a time; up to two of them may be new releases. (A single case with a single library barcode on it counts as one item, even if the case contains multiple movies on multiple discs.)
Electronic Materials
Electronic books, audiobooks, and other materials available through the Ohio Digital Library may also be checked out using your Galion Public Library card. These items follow their own circulation rules and limits and automatically return themselves when their loan period expires. See the Ohio Digital Library for details.
Interlibrary Loans
Items from other libraries within our consortium work the same as local items from here.
Items that are on loan from another library outside our consortium usually can not be renewed. Please return interlibrary loan items on time so that they can be shipped back to the lending library. You definitely cannot renew them online using our web catalog, because there is another library system involved. In some cases the staff may be able to renew them for you, but this is not guaranteed, as it depends on the other library's policies, transit time, and other factors.
Audio Materials
Audio books circulate just like regular books.
There is a limit of five Music CDs that you may have checked out at any given time, but they check out for two weeks and may be renewed up to three times, like books.
Magazines
There is a limit of ten magazine back-issues that you may have checked out at any given time, but they go out for two weeks and may be renewed up to three times, like books.
Equipment and Activity Kits
The telescope may be checked out for seven days. For the rest, see our Activity Kit Policy.
Non-Circulating Items
The following items may not be checked out, but may be used within the library: reference books (including those kept on the atlas stand and behind the desk), newspapers, the most recent issue of each magazine, microfilm, most equipment (e.g., computers, furniture, microfilm reader, etc.), and some of the local history items in the Ohio Room.
Renewing
If you need to renew your items, you may do it in person at the desk, by phone (419-468-3203), or using the web catalog. (To renew using the web catalog you will need your library card number and password to log in.) Most materials may be renewed up to three times, unless someone has placed a hold on the item, in which case it cannot be renewed, because someone is waiting for it.
Placing a Hold (Reserve)
If something you want is unavailable because someone else has it checked out, you can place a hold on the item, and we'll save it for you and contact you when your turn comes up. Holds may be placed at the desk, by phone, or on the web catalog. (To place holds on the web catalog you will need your library card number and password.)
We Don't Have It?
If the library does not have a specific book that you want to read, there are two ways we may be able to get it for you from another library. This is usually the fastest way for us to get a book for you if we don't have a copy, unless the book is rare or was published within the last few months. Non-book items, such as movies and television seasons, are often available as well. (Caveat: most of the libraries in the group we get our loans from are public libraries; there are few or no academic libraries in the group, so we tend to have difficulty obtaining items of a highly academic nature, such as doctoral dissertations and scholarly journals. For those kinds of items, you may need to check with a college library.)
If there is a new book (recently published) that you want to check out, and we don't have it, you should ask a library employee to see whether we have it on order, and if not to write up a purchase request. This usually takes longer than interlibrary loan, but very popular new items (recent bestsellers) can actually arrive faster this way, than waiting for a copy to be available from another library.