Borrowing Policies

In order to borrow materials from any UW-Madison library, you must present a valid UW-Madison ID, another Universities of Wisconsin campus ID, or a Community Borrowing Card.

Loan Periods

The following table includes typical loan periods for most loans of UW-Madison materials:

Policies by Affiliation Category

Select your affiliation category below to see complete information on library privileges and loan periods for all categories, item types, and item locations. Not sure of your category? Check this list.

If you have questions, contact Circulation Support.

UW-Madison

• Faculty & Staff
• Graduate Students
• Undergraduate & Special Students
• Spouse or domestic partner of UW-Madison faculty, staff, or students

Universities of Wisconsin

• Faculty & Staff
• Graduate Students
• Undergraduate Students

Visitors to Campus

• Alumni
  UW-Madison alumni and UW-Madison Alumni Association paid members.
• Annual Fee Card Holders
  Members of the public not covered elsewhere
• Community Borrowing Courtesy Card Holders
  Includes Beloit College, Edgewood College, and Madison College faculty, staff & students; Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) faculty, staff, and students; City of Madison, Dane County, and State of Wisconsin employees (excludes limited term employees); Native Nations Members; PLATO (Participatory Learning and Teaching Organization) members; OCLC Reciprocal Borrowing Program faculty; some Wisconsin private college/university faculty; Wisconsin public school 4K-12 educators and staff.
• Library Donors
  Donors may gain access to borrow materials with a donation of $50 or more to the Libraries’ gift funds.

Patrons of Other Libraries

Patrons of other libraries make requests to borrow materials through their local library.