Overdue Notices and Reminders

Overdue notices are sent to patrons as a courtesy. The library does not assume responsibility for fines resulting from un-received or un-read mail or email.

Bates patrons are notified via e-mail. Patrons affiliated with Bates College are responsible for informing the College of address changes. Contact the Human Resources Department.

Bates patrons must assure that email from bates.edu addresses is not diverted to spam quarantine files. Notices about library material are sent to the Bates email addresses of students, faculty, and staff, so you must read Bates e-mail often or set your Bates e-mail to forward to an e-mail account that you read regularly.

Courtesy card holders, alumni, and affiliates may receive the notices via U.S. mail. Borrowers must report changes in e-mail and postal address at the Circulation Desk or via e-mail to library-charges@bates.edu.

The notice schedule varies by material type and loan period. The notice schedule for a regular book is listed below.

  • A courtesy reminder is sent two days before the due date
  • The first overdue notice is sent one day after the due date has passed
  • The second overdue notice is sent one week later
  • Materials that are more than three weeks overdue are considered lost. The third overdue notice is a bill for replacement of the item.
  • Credit is issued when billed materials are returned.