Reserve Readings

Submitting materials for reserves

Faculty members wishing to place materials on reserve at ODY Library should bring or send a completed Reserves Request Slip with the materials to Lori Locke (5170).  To expedite the processing of your reserves, please fill out the forms as completely and legibly as possible.

To place materials on reserve in the Science Library please contact Melissa Burchard (5400) at Launders Science Library.  Request Slips not required.

SLU Libraries Reserves Policy 

Photocopies should be single-sided and as clear as possible since most copies will be scanned for electronic reserves. Dark margins and heavy shadows between pages are not acceptable because they increase the file size of a scanned document substantially, leading to longer download times, printing difficulties, and frustration for students as they try to access the material. Documents that don’t conform to these guidelines may be returned to you for recopying.

All reserves are processed in order of receipt. Please allow three business days for your material to be processed. 

Library staff can pull library-owned materials from the stacks for you if you request this service at least two weeks before the start of each semester.

What can be placed on reserve:

• Books from the SLU library collections
• Photocopies of articles or chapters from periodicals and books in the SLU library collections
• Books, periodicals, photocopies, and other material from faculty members’ personal collections (the library cannot accept responsibility for lost, damaged, or stolen copies)

What can’t be placed on reserve:

• Books on loan from other libraries
• Entire periodical issues or volumes from the SLU collections
• Microfilm or other items from the SLU collections that wouldn’t normally circulate
• Multiple copies of coursepacks, or unbound photocopies of material that has been processed for a coursepack by Office Services

Electronic and Print Reserves:

Books and other non-scannable materials will be placed on reserve in the traditional way behind the ODY or Launders Circulation Desks.

Most photocopies, word documents, and other scannable materials submitted for reserves can be made available electronically. Faculty with materials on e-reserve will be provided with instructions for access to share with their students.

Some documents are not appropriate for electronic reserves. Photocopies or other documents that are of poor quality, are excessively long, or contain large numbers of detailed images will be placed on reserve in the traditional way. Faculty will be notified when a document cannot be made available electronically.

Copyright Concerns:

Permission to place copyrighted material on reserve must be obtained from the copyright holders, which the SLU Libraries attempt to obtain for you through the Copyright Clearance Center. Permission is good for one semester only. If you use the same material in subsequent semesters, permission must be obtained for each use. Although this is usually not a problem, we cannot guarantee that permission to use material repeatedly will be granted.

Copyright holders often charge a fee for placing materials on reserve, which is paid by the Libraries.

If permission to place material on reserve is refused by the copyright holder, or if the fee for using the material is very high, we will contact you to discuss alternate arrangements.

U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 US Code) requires us to limit the number of photocopies of an article or book chapter placed on traditional reserve to one copy for every ten students in your class. If you wish to exceed this recommendation we are required by law to obtain permission from the copyright holder.

Reserve materials are intended to supplement, not replace, textbooks or coursepacks.

Ultimately, faculty members who use copyrighted materials bear the legal responsibility for the use of those materials. You should therefore make every effort to be aware of copyright law as it pertains to reserves. The SLU Libraries cannot be responsible for any copyright violations incurred in the selection and use of reserve materials.

Privacy Issues:

The New York State Civil Practice Law and Rules (Article 45, Section 4509) prohibit us from sharing information about a person’s use of library resources with anyone but that person, unless we are required to do so by court order.

Therefore, we cannot provide you with a list of students who have checked out a particular reserve item, nor can we enclose a class roster or sign-in sheet with a particular item for your students to initial or sign once they have read the material.

Reserves Request Slip