Circulating materials are those library resources which patrons may borrow for use outside the library for a specified period of time.
Circulating materials include books (excluding reference works and reserve materials), audiovisual materials, Italian-American Cultural Center books, and interlibrary loans. Different patrons have various degrees of access to circulating materials.
The collection of the Dr. Frank A. Franco Library Learning Center on the Alvernia University main campus in Reading is available to you as a distance education student.
Materials available at Alvernia will be sent to the Philadelphia Center or Schuylkill Center. Please allow a few days for delivery.
When we need to request your materials from other libraries because Alvernia does not own them, we need extra time to receive the materials and then forward them to you. In order to ensure that you receive any requested material in time to support your projects, please allow at least two to three weeks.
In both cases, materials will be sent to the Philadelphia Center or Schuylkill Center. You are responsible to return the materials on time.
Check the Library Catalog to determine availability of materials at Alvernia.
Contact the library to request the book(s) you would like. You can call, email, or chat the library to place your request.
Use the Interlibrary Loan Request Form to request titles owned by other libraries.
The loan period for circulating books is 30 days. Students may renew circulating books once for an additional 30 days. Renewals are not automatic. The library usually extends renewal privileges to patrons; however, if during the previous borrowing period another patron has requested a particular book, that book will not be renewed but will be held for the other patron.
Other types of materials such as audiovisual materials have varying loan periods and generally may also be renewed once if no one else has requested the item.
Alvernia Items
You can view your checked out items and renew them by logging into your patron account in the Library One Search database. Any materials checked out will be accessible by clicking My Loans at the top left of the page.
Interlibrary Loan Items
Renewals from other libraries are permitted only at the discretion of the lending library. If you need to renew an Interlibrary Loan item, please contact Alvernia's Interlibrary Loan Staff directly several days before your item is due.
Franco Library has several subscriptions to eBook collections to make accessing relevant texts even easier. You can search for eBooks using some of the library databases linked below, as well as peruse some free digital library suggestions.
In addition to Franco Library's eBook holdings, you can browse several free digital libraries for more book resources. Check out your options below!