About Us

Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Libraries supports the scholarly and information needs of the EKU community by providing seamless access to resources requested by current faculty, staff, and students as well as retired faculty and staff. This suite of services, managed by the Library Express team, includes:

1. Document Delivery: "Pull & Hold" and delivery of materials held by EKU Libraries
2. Interlibrary Loan (ILL): provision of materials held by other libraries
3. Demand-Driven Acquisitions (DDA): purchase and delivery of requested materials that meet the Libraries' collection development criteria

Library Express policies are influenced primarily by two external sources:

• Copyright and Fair Use
  • The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." if a user makes a request in excess of "fair use" that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order, if in its judgements, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. Requests for multiple articles in the same journal issue are not fulfilled due to copyright law. See: Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17).
• American Library Association: Interlibrary Loan Code for the U.S.
  • This code establishes principles that facilitate the requesting of material by a library and the provision of loans or copies in response to those requests. In this code, "material" includes books, audiovisual materials, and other returnable items as well as copies of journal articles, book chapters, excerpts, and other non-returnable items. See RUSA's Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States.

1. Eligibility for Services
   1. Library Express services are available to all faculty, staff, and students who meet the following criteria:
      1. A current, valid EKU email and password
      2. All library accounts free of outstanding fines and fees
      3. Adherence to the procedures and guidelines laid out in this document
   2. Community patrons (other than retired faculty and staff) are not eligible for Library Express services and should contact their local public library for access to ILL services.
2. Fees and Recalls
   1. Patrons are responsible for paying any fees imposed by other libraries as a result of lateness, loss, or damage to materials occurring from time of check-out to time of check-in.
   2. All materials borrowed from other libraries are subject to recall. When a book is recalled, the EKU patron will be notified by email and asked to return the book before the due date. Recalled books not returned within a week may be subject to fine by the lending library.
   3. EKU Libraries-owned books are guaranteed a 2-week checkout before being subject to recall. Fees are only charged if the book is not returned.
3. Restriction of Borrowing Privileges
   1. Due to fees owed
      1. If fees have been applied to a patron's account, library privileges are suspended until payment of all fees has been received. Once payment has been received, library privileges will be reinstated.
      2. If an item belonging to another library is returned late or damaged, regardless of having been returned, fees may still apply, depending on the polices of the lending library. EKU has no control over other libraries' policies.
      3. Fees for items not belonging to EKU Libraries are:
         1. Non-waivable once they have been applied to a patron's account
         2. Non-refundable once paid
      4. Fees for items owned by EKU Libraries are:
         1. Waivable if the items are returned in good condition.
         2. Refundable if the items are returned in good condition, with the payment receipt, within 30 days of payment.
   2. Due to abuse of privileges
      1. Please see the Patron Restriction of Borrowing Privileges Policy

1. Requests are limited to 10 in process at a time. It does not matter the type -- article or loan -- or their status.
2. We will no longer permit graduate assistants (GAs) to request articles on behalf of faculty.
3. We will continue to purchase books requested by faculty that meet the scope of our collection. Book requests that do not meet these parameters will be borrowed from other libraries.
4. Some lending libraries charge fees to loan physical books. From now on, Library Express will only borrow books from libraries when they are made available to us for free.