Checkouts & Renewals
Loan periods, checkout limits, and automatic renewals.
Manage Holds
How to place, cancel, and freeze holds on your account.
Returns & Dropboxes
Return items at any of our libraries or at our remote drop locations.
Overdue, Lost, & Damaged Items
No daily overdue fines. Items 21 days overdue are considered lost or missing and billed to your account.
Borrow from Other Libraries
Use Prospector or Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services.
Manage Your Account
Make the most of your account features, sign up for account notifications, or make an online payment.
Checkouts & Renewals
Loan Periods
1 week – Movies, Here & Now Collection (books & movies), magazines
3 weeks – Books, specially marked movies, audiobooks and kits (children’s books and CDs).
6 weeks – Book Club Kits
Gadgets & Things – The item record in the online catalog gives specific details on lending periods, renewals, and holds.
Check Out Limits
100 per card – items (seasonal and holiday items may have additional checkout limits. Please look for posted notices.)
20 per card – movies and magazines
20 per card – holds
Prospector
1 week – DVDs (no renewals)
3 weeks – print materials and compact discs (1 renewal)
20 per card – Checkout Limit
Automatic Renewals
Items automatically renew up to three times, unless it is on hold for another customer or you have $50.00 or more in fees on your account. Renewal periods are the same length as the original loan period.
Some items are not eligible for automatic renewal: digital content downloaded from Libby, Hoopla, and similar services; Interlibrary Loan; Here & Now Collection; Lucky Day Collection; some Prospector items; and some Gadgets & Things.
If you have chosen to receive email notices through My Account, you will get a notice one day prior to the due date that items have been renewed or were not renewed.
Manage Holds
Log in to My Account to view a list of items you have on hold. The status will tell you where you are in line or will say “Ready must pick up by mm/dd/yy” if the item is waiting for you at your pickup location. Once the item is available for pickup, you will receive an email notification or, if you’ve opted in, a text message. Items are held for one week.
Place a Hold
- Search the Library catalog to find your item.
- Choose the “Place hold” button to the right of the title.
- Log in with your 14-digit library card number and PIN.
- On the next page, select your library pickup location and hit “Submit.”
Cancel a Hold
- Log in to My Account.
- Choose “Holds (#).”
- Check the box under “Cancel” next to the item you want to cancel.
- Click the “Update List” button to save your changes.
- Select “Yes” to proceed with canceling your hold.
Freeze or Unfreeze a Hold
If you are going out of town, or if you simply wish to better manage when your holds come in, you may freeze your place in line for the requests.
Log in to My Account
For each item you wish to freeze, click the checkbox in the “Freeze” column at the far right of your holds.
Click the “Update List” button to save your changes.
Select “Yes” to proceed with freezing your hold.
To unfreeze a hold:
- Click in the “Freeze” column checkbox(es) for the request(s) you wish to unfreeze/re-activate. This should remove the checkmark from the checkbox.
- Click on the “Update List” button to save your changes.
- Select “Yes” to proceed with unfreezing your hold.
Returns & Dropboxes
All Library and Prospector materials can be returned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at any of the three library locations and at our remote dropboxes. Interlibrary Loan items must be returned to the customer service desk at the library it was checked out from.
Remote Dropbox Pickup Schedule
Daily Pickup
First National Bank (drive-up)
155 E. Boardwalk Drive
Fort Collins Senior Center (drive-up)
1200 Raintree Drive
King Soopers
1842 N. College Avenue
King Soopers at Rigden Farms
2602 Timberline Road
King Soopers Cedarwood
1015 S. Taft Hill Road
Pickup on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays ONLY.
Overland Foods
3333 W. County Road 54G
Laporte
Timnath Town Center Building
4750 Signal Tree Drive
Timnath
Dropbox Locations
Overdue, Lost, & Damaged Items
The Library District does not charge daily fines for overdue materials. Items do still have a due date and must be returned once the checkout period has expired and all automatic renewals have been used.
NOTE: An item that is 21 days overdue is considered “lost/missing.” Your account is billed for the replacement cost of the item.
This fee must be paid if the item has been lost. If the item is returned in good condition and can be returned to the collection for check out, the replacement fee is waived from your account.
Items that are lost, returned with damaged or missing parts, or otherwise are not returned in the same condition as when they were checked out will be billed for the cost of the Library replacing the item. This includes processing fees.
The Library does not accept replacement items in exchange for lost or missing materials.
Due Date, Overdue, & Debt Collection* Notifications
Knowing when your library items are due is your responsibility. To help you keep track of item due dates, the library sends the following notices.
Day Before item due
Reminder email is sent
Day After item due
Reminder email is sent
1 Week (7 days) past due
Reminder email is sent; if there is no email connected with the customer’s account, the notification is mailed via USPS to the account address.
2 Weeks (14 days) past due
Final notice is sent via USPS mail.
3 Weeks (21 days) past due
The item is considered “lost/missing” and the amount for replacing the item is billed to your library account.
Notification is sent via USPS mail, telling the customer they will be charged for item(s) not returned.
4 Weeks (28 days) past due
Accounts with a fee balance of $50 or more are turned over to Unique Management (UM), an outside agency for collection, and assessed a $10 processing fee*
UM sends the customer a letter as soon as it receives the customer account, usually the same day. Customer has three weeks to respond.
If the customer’s total fee is not resolved, UM will continue sending mail and making phone calls until the amount is paid.
* Library debts are not reported to credit bureaus by collection agencies. As such, library debt does not affect your credit report.
Paying Fees on Your Account
Once fees reach $50.00 your library card is blocked from use. The Library District does not accept replacements for lost or damaged items.
Lost Materials: item cost + a $10.00 processing fee
Damaged Materials: item cost + a $10.00 processing fee
Options for Paying Fees
- Pay online through My Account on our website.
- Pay with a credit card at any of the three libraries.
- Pay with a check which can be dropped off at any of the libraries or at the Administration Center.
- Mail a check to the Administration Center at 301 East Olive St., Fort Collins, CO 80524.
- Call the Answer Center at 970-221-6740.
Refunds
If you pay for a lost item and then find it and return it to a Library Service Desk within 60 days, the Library will refund you the full amount you paid for the replacement item.
To receive a refund the item must be in good enough condition to return to the Library’s circulating collection.
