Library reservations

Latest

Seaford Library is moving between 28 January and 20 February
While we are closed you won't be able to choose Seaford Library when you reserve online on our E-library, so please pick a different library to collect your reservations from. You'll be able to reserve online to collect from Temporary Seaford Library after Monday 20 February.

Go paperless and get notices about reservations and late loans by email – it's quicker than post and helps reduce waste. You'll need to sign into the E-library to Change reservations contact method and Change overdues contact method.

You can reserve up to 20 titles on your library card. This includes both new reservations and titles you've already requested.

The reservation process involves three stages – add titles to your reservation basket, choose where to collect them, and place your reservation.

Ebooks and audiobooks are reserved in a different way – please see our page E-library – help using ebooks and audiobooks.

Step 1 – selecting titles to reserve

First, find the title you want on the library catalogue.

How to search the catalogue

Then click the ‘Add to reservation basket' link, either on your search results or on the title information screen.

A ‘Reserve' button appears below your basket on every screen.

Carry on searching the catalogue to add more titles to your basket.

Step 2 – go to the reservation basket

After you've added all the titles you want to your basket, just click the 'Reserve' button and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you haven't signed in yet, you'll go to the sign in screen first. Use your library card number and PIN to sign in and reserve all your titles in one go.
If you've already signed in, you'll go straight to the reservation basket.

Step 3 – completing your reservation

Check the titles in your basket and tick the titles you want to reserve – you can add or delete titles for 20 minutes. If you don't use the E-library for longer than this, your basket will be emptied and you will need to start again.
Choose where to collect your reservation from the list of libraries.
Choose the way we tell you that your reservations are ready to collect – email will arrive quicker than post.
Carefully check the titles, collection library and contact method before clicking the 'Reserve selected titles' or 'Reserve all' button, as the reservation charge will be added to your account at this stage and cannot be refunded.

Why can't I reserve a title?

Add to reservation basket

The ‘Add to reservation basket' link may not appear if the title you found can't be reserved online.

Checking the reservation basket

Sometimes the reservation basket tells you that you can't reserve some of the titles you selected. This is because:

you've already reserved or borrowed the title
you're trying to reserve more than 20 titles
there is a problem with your library card, such as you owe over £25 or your loans are very overdue
there are no copies you can reserve at this time (see below for reasons)
ebooks and audiobooks are reserved using the Ebooks and audiobooks website.

Reasons you can't reserve titles

You can't reserve titles if they are:

reference books – shown as 'not for loan'
new films – DVDs are 'not reservable' until they are three months old
special collections – reading group books, sets of scores and plays can only be reserved by asking staff at your local library
missing or damaged
unavailable during refurbishment work at a library
held at a library usually closed to the public, such as our County Library Store.

Titles not on the E-library catalogue

Suggest books, films or CDs to add to our libraries using our library comments form.

Fill in a reservation card at your local library to:

request new titles before they are published – we will consider buying them in line with our Stock Policy.
ask us to try obtaining specialist items using the national inter-library loan system – this may involve an extra reservation charge.

Reservation charges

You may be charged a small fee for reserving titles. This is payable on your next visit to the library. If your account is over £5, you can also pay by credit card over the phone. See our fees and charges.

We regret this charge is non-refundable even if the title is not available, if you don't collect it, or if you cancel the reservation.

Collecting your reservation

We will tell you by email or post when your reserved title is ready to collect.

To check the progress of your reservations, change your contact method, or make sure your postal address is correct, please sign in to the E-library.

Cancelling a reservation

You can cancel reservations in the ‘Reservations' section of member services. You will still have to pay the reservation charge – sign in to the E-library.

If you change your mind about a title you reserved that isn't on our catalogue, please contact your local library.

Contact us

For help with reservations, you can:

fill in our library comments form
ask staff at your local library
phone Library Enquiries on 0345 60 80 196.