Health Sciences Library

Identification

Users must present a valid WSU, other Summit university, or Community Library borrower’s card to check out materials. Always bring your WSU, other Summit university, or Community Library card with you.

If you would like someone other than you to pick up your library holds, please fill out a Library Designee Authorization Form at the Library’s circulation desk. This ensures that unauthorized people are not able to access your library materials.

Loan periods

The loan period depends on the type of material, type of patron, and owning library. For WSU-owned circulating books, the following general loan periods apply:

• Undergraduate students: 6 weeks
• Graduate students: 1 semester
• Faculty: 1 semester
• Visiting scholars: 6 weeks
• Community patrons: 6 weeks

For materials owned by libraries other than WSU, the loan periods are dependent on the lending library’s policies, which are often on the order of 4-6 weeks. Please note that for this reason, requesting materials that are required for classes through interlibrary loan may not be an effective way to access the materials. Books needed for only a short time may be available for the time in the semester when they are needed, but materials such as textbooks that should be accessed throughout the entire semester may need to be returned to the lending library long before the end of the course.

If you have questions specific to the materials you are borrowing, please contact us by email or phone, at (509) 358-7930.

Course Reserve materials

Course Reserves are loaned for 2 hours at a time. This ensures that the materials are widely available to students who need to use the materials for their courses. Many course reserve materials are kept on the Reference shelf on the main floor of the library to provide access 24/7, and others are kept at the circulation desk and must be checked out during staffed hours.

Equipment Checkouts

We offer laptops, calculators, headphones, season affective disorder lamps, and some charging cables to WSU-affiliated borrowers. For more information see our Computers and Technology Page or check at the circulation desk.

Return

Return books and multimedia in the Library book drops or at the circulation desk. Book drops are located (1) outside the Student Activity Center’s exterior doors on the northwest side of the building, and (2) at the Library entrance on the second floor of the Student Activity Center. The book drop at the Library entrance is available only during staffed hours, so items returned outside of those hours can only be returned in the outdoor book drop. Equipment and Course Reserves must be returned at the Library’s circulation desk (not in the book drop).

Items checked out from WSU Pullman or from other Summit Libraries may be returned at the WSU Health Sciences Library.

Community Borrowers

Community users may borrow local materials, and materials at other WSU campuses may be requested at the circulation desk. Community users are not eligible for Summit borrowing or Interlibrary Loan services. Please contact Library staff for assistance.

Washington state residents who are not affiliated with Washington State University may use Libraries resources and services and borrow library materials (per the Washington Administrative Code (504-40-020)). Residents who are 16 years old or older may apply for an community borrower card at any WSU Libraries Access Services desk with a valid ID. Acceptable forms of ID that can be used for signing up for a borrower card include identification from a federal agency, state agency, or another academic institution.

Community Borrower accounts expire each year; to renew, visit the Library with proof of address (either piece of mail or valid ID displaying current address). If the patron has materials to renew at this time that were checked out during a previous academic year, they must bring these items to the library to return. These materials may be checked out again immediately as long as there are no holds on the item.