Reserves Policy

Merrill Library Course Reserve Guidelines for Instructors

Instructors can place books, articles, and non-print items on reserve at the Merrill Library. This service ensures that essential course materials are readily available to students for shorter loan periods (hours or days), preventing long-term checkouts (weeks) and increasing access for everyone. Only current students, staff, and faculty of the University of Maine at Machias can check out reserve items.

To comply with copyright laws, reserve items must be owned by either the Library or the instructor. If neither the instructor nor UMaine Machias owns the material, it can be purchased through the usual channels and then placed on reserve. After the reserve period ends, the item will be added to the Library’s circulating collection.

To place items on reserve, instructors need to submit a completed reserve form along with the physical items to a library staff member. Please allow up to three business days for processing. At the semester’s end, the Library will remove items from reserve. Library-owned items will return to the circulating collection, and instructors will be notified when their personal copies are available for pickup.