Borrow, Renew, Return

• At a service desk: At Central Service Points in Neilson, Hillyer or Josten Libraries. Student or permanent staff members will check out reserves and regular materials, and provide assistance with your library account, including renewals, recalls and overdues.

• Self checkout kiosks: Available on Neilson Library’s ground and first floors, the stations include accessibility features and language support for English, Spanish and French. Scan the barcode on the back of your OneCard and then, scan the barcode on the front of the book. A receipt will be emailed after checkout.
• Self checkout app: For Neilson materials only, download the Smith Libraries Self Checkout app from the App Store or Google Play to borrow items with a mobile device.

Unless the item has been recalled or is on reserve you may renew most items:

• Online, in Discover Advanced. 
  • Login with your Smith username and password
  • Under My Dashboard in the left panel, go to Requests & loans
  • Local borrowers and alumnae should register with the Neilson Library Central Service Point where they will be given a username and password. After that, they can log into Discover Advanced and click on Smith College Library Community Borrowers.
• In person, at any Smith College Library service desk.
• By telephone or email using the contact information in the Contact Us section below.
• Help renewing a large number of items is available in person, by telephone or email.

• Log into your Interlibrary Loan account.
• On the main menu, scroll down and click on Renew Checked Out Items.
• The Interlibrary Loan staff will send you an email with the new due date if the lending library grants a renewal, or will let you know if the lending library refuses the renewal request, in which case the book will be due on its original due date.

Smith and Five College Materials

With the exception of Reserve and Interlibrary Loan items, Smith and Five College materials may be returned to any Five College library.

Reserve Items

Reserve items must be returned in person to the library service desk where they were borrowed.

Recalled Items

Recalled items must be returned by the newly established due date on the recall notice. If possible, return a recalled item as soon as possible to any Five College library. If you are out of the area when you receive a recall notice, please contact the appropriate service desk (see below) for specific mailing instructions.

Interlibrary Loan Items

Interlibrary Loan items must be returned to the central service point in Neilson Library.

Book Drops

Avoid using book drops whenever possible as they often damage library materials. Fragile or large items and video or sound recordings, especially LP (vinyl) recordings, should never be placed in a book drop, but should be returned to a library circulation desk. There is an outside book drop at the southern entrance to Neilson library that can be used at any time.

To return a Smith library item by mail

• Pack the item securely in a padded envelope or box
• Insure the package for $50 per item
• Mail to:

Smith College Libraries 
Neilson Library 
Circulation Department 
7 Neilson Drive 
Northampton, MA 01063

For specific questions, please contact the appropriate library service desk.