Checking Out Materials

OCOM students, faculty, and staff may check out 20 physical items at a time. A maximum of 5 DVDs and 5 audio CDs may be checked out at a time.

Alumni and local practitioners with library accounts may check out up to 5 items at a time.

Borrowers may place a hold on materials from OCOM by making a request online using their OCOM Library Card, or with the staff person at the circulation/information desk. The requester will be contacted by email once the item becomes available. The item will be held for the borrower for a week and will be returned to regular circulation if it is not picked up.

OCOM Library has reciprocal borrowing agreements with the libraries of National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM), Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and the University of Western States (UWS), collectively known as the Portland Area Health Libraries (PAHL). Materials from these libraries can be requested using Primo Library Search. Requesting items from OHSU, NUNM, or UWS is restricted to current OCOM students, staff, and faculty.

OCOM students, staff, or faculty who would like to check out materials not owned by a PAHL library may find and request items using WorldCat Discovery, or by filling out an Interlibrary Loan Request request.

The check-out period for OCOM library books, new items, and puzzles is 4 weeks. OCOM library DVDs and CDs have a check-out period of 2 weeks. The check-out period for class reserve items is 1 week. Electronics such as iPads, laptops, and phone chargers have variable check-out policies (generally either a 1 week, 24-hour, or a 4-hour check-out period). 

Doctoral students may keep borrowed materials, including monographs and audiovisual materials, until the first day of the next monthly campus visit (approximately 4 weeks). This does not apply to class reserve materials and items that have a waiting list.

Reference materials, journals, and student papers are for library use only.

See the Check-Out Periods and Fines Guide at the bottom of the page for a detailed list of check-out periods.

You can use your library card to renew materials online in our online catalog. Additionally, you can stop by the library during regular library hours, call the library, or email the library to renew materials.

Late fees do not accrue during school breaks, weekends, and school recognized holidays. Reserve materials accrue fees Monday – Friday, 9am to 5pm. At the end of each academic term, students who accrue more than $5 in fines will be billed in Populi.

Not all items accrue late fees, see the Check-Out Periods and Fines Guide at the bottom of the page for a detailed list of library fines on overdue items.

Materials ten weeks overdue (seven days in the case of class reserve materials) will be treated as lost materials. The lost/damaged material charge including replacement cost of the item and a $5 processing fee will be assessed.

If you lost or damaged an item, let a librarian know immediately to stop your account from accruing additional late fees. If a book is damaged, bring it in so a librarian can assess if it needs to be replaced. You will be billed for the cost of the replacement, plus a $5 processing fee. Alumni and local practitioners must pay for lost items prior to checking out additional materials.

It sometimes happens that library customers report they have already returned, or never checked out, an item the library circulation system indicates is checked out to them. In these cases, the library makes every effort to locate the item.

If the library has a record of a material checked out to you that you think you have returned, or never checked out, please follow these steps:

Fill out this form with as much information as possible. 

A search will start within 2 business days. We will search for the item for a total of 4 weeks. Library staff will search for the item in the circulation stacks periodically during this time. The item will remain on your account and you will continue to receive overdue notices.

We (the library and the patron) share the responsibility in locating the lost library item. The borrower is asked that they check their belongings again and report if the item is found. Other patrons have reported  finding missing items in their homes, cars, offices, or lockers where it could have been mixed in with personal belongings. The patron is also welcome to search the library as well.

Once the search is complete you will be notified with the results of our search. If the book is declared lost, your account will be charged for the replacement cost of the book plus a $5 replacement fee. 

For future transactions, the library encourages you to review all loan and return notices that the library emails to you.

The following table lays out the check-out periods and late fees for current students, staff, and faculty. Alumni and local practitioners may check-out books, DVDs and CDs, and puzzles and games.