Library Use

Beaman Library is a private, Christian university facility and access to and use of this library is a privilege extended to the Lipscomb University/Lipscomb Academy community of faculty, staff, and students.

Expectations

Library users and staff will interact with mutual respect and consideration. All library users will:

· Respect library and university property

· Abide by all university and library policies, licensing and contractual agreements

· Comply with all requests made by library staff

· Show valid identification upon request

· Use Beaman Library resources (content, equipment, or facilities) safely and appropriately

Reserving Spaces

Student study rooms may be booked online by current university students up to 2 weeks in advance. Each university student booking a study room is limited to access up to 2 hours per session 3 times a week. Student study room keys are picked up and returned at the Circulation Desk. The student who reserved the study room must present the confirmation email at the Circulation Desk to pick up the key. Keys must remain in the Beaman Library building.

The Faculty Adjunct Study Room may be booked online by current adjuncts up to 2 weeks in advance when needed. The Adjunct study room key may be picked up and returned at the Reference Desk. Keys must remain in the Beaman Library building.

Circulation

  • Checkout privileges are granted to Lipscomb faculty, staff, and students when presenting their Lipscomb ID. Alumni may also check out print books after applying for a Bison Borrower card online.

  • The undergraduate and alumni loan period for books is 21 days with a total of 3 renewals allowed.

  • The graduate loan period for books is 28 days with a total of 3 renewals allowed.

  • The faculty and staff loan period for books is 1 semester.

  • The loan period for games is 3 days for current faculty, staff, and students with 1 renewal allowed.

  • Books may be renewed online via My Account on the Library Homepage by checking the box before the book's title.

  • Faculty, staff, and students may check out up to 50 books at a time.

  • Retired faculty are limited to 3 books at a time.

  • Alumni are limited to 3 books at a time.

  • The overdue fee is 10 cents a day per book, payable at the Circulation Desk.

  • When a book is lost, the patron's library account and CNS account will have a hold placed until the replacement fee is paid.

  • The lost book fee is $50 and a $10 processing fee. Fees may be paid at the library or through touchnet.

  • Some technology items are available for checkout. The fines and replacement fees for these items vary according to cost.


Policies for other persons are as follows:

Alumni, Retired Faculty, and Board of Trustees

Lipscomb University alumni (those holding a Lipscomb degree), retired faculty, and members of the Board of Trustees may apply for a Bison Borrower card online. This card permits members to check out up to 3 books for a period of 21 days. However, Bison Borrowers will not be able to login to the library website or access library databases. Please allow five business days for library staff to process and mail the card.

Other Guests

Beaman Library allows the greater community to come into our building and use the print resources in-house. Copies can be made at the Reference Desk for a fee.


Other Library Services

Computer Access

Computer access is primarily for current students, although alumni, retired faculty, and guests with official campus business may use them when available. Bison Borrowers may have access to a computer with a guest username/password received from the Reference Desk.

Printing, Copying, and Faxing

Students and faculty with Lipscomb user IDs can print to library printers using their print quotas. However, there is no print quota attached to the guest username/password available for Bison Borrowers.

The Reference Desk can help with scanning, copying and faxing. Scanning is free; copies are $.05 per page for black and white or $.50 per page for color. Sending a fax is $.50 per page. We are not able to receive a fax for you.

Laminating

  • Beaman Library will laminate vaccination cards for free.

  • We will laminate other items for 50 cents per 8.5x11 laminating sheet. (If someone needs 4 small things laminated that will all fit into a single laminating pouch, the patron will only be charged 50 cents.)

  • If a department brings their own laminating sheets, they can use our machine for free. We will only charge them if they need to use sheets that the library purchased.

Mailing Policy

Beaman Library is able to mail a limited number of physical copy items to graduate students who live outside of Middle Tennessee .

  • Students are limited to a total of 10 books per semester sent in no more than 3 shipments.

  • Items must be mailed back at the student's expense via Priority Mail with tracking information. Items must be received by the due date in order for no fines to be incurred.

  • No Interlibrary Loan requested items will be mailed to a student. Students should check with their local public libraries for ILL agreements and requests.

  • To find out if you qualify for this service, email jan.cohu@lipscomb.edu.


Food and Drink

Beaman Library is committed to creating and maintaining a scholarly environment at Lipscomb University. To maintain the library collections, furnishings, and study environment, the following policies exist concerning food and drink consumption in the library:

"Meal Zone" Area is as follows:

  • Consume food and covered drinks only on the 2nd floor (main floor) East Wing, designated as a "Meal Zone".

  • Please do not eat food when using library materials.

  • "Leave No Trace" - throw away all food waste, beverage containers, wrappers, etc. when you leave. Leave the library as you found it, if not better.

  • Food deliveries must be received in the Library Courtyard. Have the driver call your cell phone upon arrival and meet him or her in the Courtyard.

  • The "Meal Zone" provides a space for students to study and eat; please keep noise at a reasonable level. Show courtesy to other library users.

  • No food should be left on the table or desk. Any food left unattended is subject to being discarded by library staff.

  • Accidents happen. Please notify the library staff of any spills which require assistance.

"Food and Drink-Free" Areas are as follows:

  • Art Gallery on the 2nd floor

  • Archive and Special Collections on the 3rd floor

“Drink-Only” Areas: (in covered, spill-proof containers or capped bottles)

  • 2nd Floor West Wing (Reference Area) including Computer Lab and study rooms

  • 2nd Floor Library Lab 207B

  • 3rd Floor Study Areas

Library-Approved Events

Library administration may approve special events during which exemptions to the food and drink policy may be made. Prior approval from library administration must be sought for any exemptions to the food and drink policy one week before the event, including student events.

Enforcement

Library users who do not comply with the library's food and drink policy will be reminded of the policy once and asked to abide by it. Patrons who fail to abide by the policy after notification will be asked to remove their food and drink from the library or asked to leave the library.


Noise

To help guests find a study environment with a noise level that is most conducive to their needs, Beaman Library has two noise zones - Collaborative and Quiet, based on location, which are described below:


Collaborative Zones

The following areas are collaborative study areas:

  • 2nd Floor East Wing

  • 2nd Floor West Wing (including Computer Commons)

In the collaborative study areas, please be considerate of others and:

  • Use a conversational, indoor voice.

  • Refrain from yelling and shouting.

  • Set your cell phone notifications to vibrate.

  • Use headphones when listening to audio and video.


Quiet Zones

The following areas are quiet study areas:

  • Atrium (Reading Area 2.5 - space between 2nd and 3rd Floors)

  • Entire 3rd Floor

In quiet study areas, please be considerate of others and remember this is a “no noise” area:

  • Refrain from conversations and group discussions so everyone can concentrate on his or her work.

  • Set your cell phone notifications to silent mode. No cell phone conversations are permitted in quiet zones.

  • Use headphones for all media and set the volume to low so that noise is not audible to others in the vicinity.

What To Do When Noise Is A Problem:

Everyone in the library should be considerate of others around them. All library employees are authorized to resolve any noise complaints. Please contact a library employee if you have concerns about noise. Library employees will ask library users to leave the building if they do not comply with the Noise Policy and continue to exhibit disruptive behavior

Events

  • Beaman Library event spaces are available only to current Lipscomb Faculty, Staff, and Students.

  • For your event to be considered for approval, you must fill out the Event Approval form 2 weeks in advance. The link to the form is below.

  • All events must be scheduled during Library hours.

  • The total number of guests cannot exceed 50 people. Larger events should seek larger spaces on campus such as the Shinn Center.

  • There must be a designated person responsible for returning everything back to its original place.

  • The piano in the 2nd floor East Wing is available for use during the event with prior approval.

  • All food and drink must be removed from the area at the end of the event and spills must be cleaned. All trash must be taken to the dumpster at the end of the Library loading dock before leaving.

  • The Library’s main purpose is to serve our students with a place to study. If the noise from your event interferes with their studying, you will be asked to quieten down or leave the Library.

Student Events:

  • Student events must have a Faculty/Staff sponsor who is present during the entire event.

  • The Faculty/Staff sponsor will be responsible for collecting any incurred charges in the event of damages.

Library Events Request Form



Privacy

Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association. Lipscomb University's Beaman Library defines the right to privacy as the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others. Confidentiality exists when a library is in possession of personally identifiable information about users and keeps that information private on their behalf.

Our commitment to our users' privacy and confidentiality has deep roots not only in law but also in the ethics and practices of librarianship. In accordance with the American Library Association's Code of Ethics: "We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired, or transmitted." (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics)

Beaman Library protects the privacy of those who use the library. Staff and student workers protect registration information about borrowers, their requests for information and materials, and their loan transactions. Library employees are legally prohibited from providing information regarding a patron's library account to any other person regardless of their status or identity.


Patron Record Privacy

A library registration record is created for each patron. The record contains the borrower's name, address, and other identifying information. This information is used only for library circulation purposes. The library's circulation function links a patron with the library materials he or she has checked out. For each item checked out to a patron, the library maintains the following information:

  • Item specific details such as the author, title, call number, and barcode number.

  • The date charged, loan period, and the date due.

Staff or student workers will NOT disclose the following:

  • The name of a patron who has a particular item checked out.

  • The titles that are checked out to a particular patron.

  • Personal information of any patron (address, phone number, email, etc).

  • Identify a patron who has checked out a particular item or describe them in any other way.

Staff or student workers MAY take the following actions:

  • Give the due date of a particular item.

  • Recall any checked out item if the due date is past.

  • Suggest that the patron contact class members regarding the item needed.


Web Statistics

Occasionally Beaman Library collects and analyzes data about the use of its website to improve service. The Library may choose to use an externally hosted service (e.g., Google Analytics) to collect this data. Most external services use web browser cookies to track usage. To opt-out of such tracking (for the Library or any other website), examine the cookies you are accepting as you use the internet.

Enforcement & Redress

Beaman Library will not make library records available to any agency of state, federal, or local government unless required to do so under law or to report a suspected violation of the law. Nor will we share data on individuals with other parties including faculty, staff (including library staff except in the performance of their assigned duties), parents, students, campus security, and law enforcement personnel, except as required by law or University policy or as needed to perform our University duties.

Library staff are to refer all requests for confidential user records to the appropriate Library Director or Designate. Only the Library Director/Designate has authorization to receive and respond to requests from law enforcement or other third parties. The Director/Designate will forward all requests from law enforcement or other government officials, all requests under applicable "open records" laws, to University Counsel, and will consult with counsel regarding the proper response. Library users who have questions, concerns, or complaints about the library's handling of their personally identifiable data should file written comments with the Library Director.