Borrowing and Returning Literature
As a Masaryk University student or employee, you can borrow books from all university libraries. You can borrow books at a borrowing counter, or you can also use self-service borrowing facilities (located on SCI, ARTS, PED, ECON and FSS).
Registration
- Library registration is free of charge for students and employees and applies to the entire university.
- You can register online or in person at a library in each of the faculty libraries.
- The registration of students is valid for the duration of the study (except for the Faculty of Law with the requirement of registration for each academic year), of employees for the duration of the employment relationship, of emeritus professors unlimited, of persons on short-term stays at MU for the duration of the stay.
- Registration of external (non-university) users is valid for 12 months from the date of registration, with possibility of renewal.
- At the latest on the day of the registration expiry, the user has to settle all his obligations towards the library (return borrowed books, pay fines for overdue items).
Basic Information on the Borrowing
- Library items are divided into in-house (prezenční, only to study-room) and absence (absenční, it is possible to borrow them home)
- Some in-house documents can also be borrowed home for the time the library is closed (typically overnight / weekend)
- Standard loan period is one month, but there are also short-term loans (typically one week)
- Loans can be booked and extended via the Library Catalogue
- Library Catalogue also displays current borrowings and financial transactions between the user and the library
Borrowing from Libraries outside MU
For registered readers, MU libraries offer the possibility of borrowing books from libraries outside Brno. Interlibrary Loan Service is performed throughout Czechia and is free of charge (only postage is paid). In addition to borrowing, you can ask for a copy of an article, a book chapter, conference proceedings, etc. Through your library, international library libraries can also book books from foreign libraries (for books not available in Czechia) through international interlibrary borrowing. Interlibrary loans can not be made online. They are provided by the staff at the desk in the particular libraries.
- Interlibrary Service in Czechia
- Free of charge (only postage is paid)
- Within all libraries in Czechia
- Possible to send a copy of an article, a chapter from a book or a paper from the proceedings
- The price of copying varies across the libraries
- International Interlibrary Service
- The price of a book is about one hundred CZK and differs across the libraries
- Within libraries worldwide
- Mediated by the Moravian Land Library in Brno, the National Technical Library, etc.
- The price of copying varies across the libraries
Returning Literature
Readers are obligated to return books at regular times, depending on the type of loan. Standard loans can usually be extended up to two times if the items are not booked by another reader. You can manage your borrowing, booking, and extension requests in your Personal Reader Account, which is accessible in the Library Catalogue after login.
Biblioboxes
Books may usually be returned to the borrowing desk at the library where they were borrowed. On some faculties, however, it is also possible to use a bibliobox, i.e. a box for the returned books, which is located at the entrance to the Faculty of Arts. If you return a book to the bibliobox, the book will be written off from your account not until the next working day.
Library Fines
If you fail to meet the deadline for the return of the borrowed book, you must pay a fine for overdue item. Its amount depends on the type of borrowing (the shorter the loan, the higher the fine) and the length of the delay, that is, the number of days (or even hours) that you are delayed with. The specific amounts are shown in the MU Library Regulations (Price List of Fees).