Borrowing and Charges

COVID-19 update

Book fines suspended 

We will remove overdue charges for items which became overdue since 23 March 2020, and fines remain suspended throughout the National lockdown.

We're working with our supplier to ensure that any overdue charges incorrectly applied are removed. If you believe that you have been incorrectly charged for overdue items, please speak to staff when you next visit the library or contact us on 020 8489 2700.

Customers will need to pay any charges incurred before 23 March 2020, in line with our normal fees and charges.

Renew online

 See also: COVID-19: Library Services Currently Available.

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What we offer:

• Library members can borrow books, eBooks and eAudiobooks, language courses free of charge
• There is a small charge for borrowing music CDs, audiobooks and DVDs
• Members may borrow up to 12 books/audio books, 8 CDs and 4 DVDs to a maximum of 24 items
• You may keep each item for three weeks (six weeks for language courses)
• DVDs may only be borrowed for two days or for one week
• Loans are made to those who are able to visit our libraries personally
• There is also a Home Library Service for people who are unable to visit our libraries in person

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Fees and Charges

The fees and charges listed below are current from September 2018.

Reservations

• Standard charge £1.15
• Over 60s charge 60p

Reservation (item not available on Catalogue)

• Standard Charge £2.50
• Over 60s charge £1.50

The Reservation charge is an administrative charge and is payable upon making the reservation. It is not a guarantee that an item can be supplied. We aim to fulfil the majority of requests but occasionally this is not possible, if so, you will be notified.

Overdue Items (except DVDs/Blu-Rays)

• Standard charge per item per day 25p
• Over 60s charge per item per day 12p

Maximum charge per item (except DVDs/Blu-Rays)

• Standard charge £6.75
• Over 60s charge £3.24

See note on outstanding charges below.

Lost Ticket/Items

• Standard charge £2.25
• Over 60s and under 16s charge £1.10

If you lose or damage an item we will charge you for the cost of replacing it. In the case of DVDs/Blu-Rays, this is the cost of the rental edition.

If an item is out of print or production, there are standard charges to a maximum of £19 (Non-Fiction ) and £12.80 (Fiction and DVDs/Blu-ray).

See note on outstanding charges below.

Music CDs

• CDs - Standard hire charge 57p
• CDs - Over 60s hire charge 25p

DVDs and Blu-Rays

• Blockbusters £3 for 1 week (maximum charge per item £15)
• Feature films, TV Series and Documentaries £1.20 for 1 week (maximum charge per item £7.20)
• Multi DVD Sets (Items with 3 or more discs) £2 for 1 week (maximum charge per item £12)

If DVDs and Blu-Ray are overdue, full hire charges will apply for every additional hire period stated - see note on outstanding charges below.

Spoken Word (Audio Books)

• Standard hire charge £1
• Overdue charges apply at standard charge per item per day 25p

Audio items are free of charge for people under 16, over 60 and people registered blind or visually impaired.

Small Ads

• £3 per 3 week period

Printing and Photocopying per sheet

• Black and White A4 15p, A3 25p
• Colour A4 50p, A3 £1

Scanning per sheet

• To email: 5p

Outstanding charges

Please note: any charges that have been outstanding for 3 months or more will result in your account being blocked.

In order to start using your account again, you will need to clear the outstanding balance. If charges accumulate to £10 or more, your account will again be automatically blocked.

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