Renewing Items in Person, By Phone, or Online:

How to Renew By Phone

You may renew most items twice unless someone is waiting for the item. There are 3 ways to renew materials--in person, by telephone, and online. When you renew, please have your library card in front of you and the barcode of item(s) to be renewed. For telephone renewals, please call 351-8268. Express books are not renewable. For Interlibrary loans, please call 351-8266.

How to Renew Items Online:

1. Click on Catalog Search from the left navigation bar.
2. Select My Library Card from the dark blue navigation bar at the top of the iBistro homepage.
3. Choose Renew My Materials from the My Account box.
4. Log in - Type in your User ID (i.e. your 14-digit barcode without spaces from your library card) and your PIN number* in the PIN box if you have already chosen one.
5. Select Renew Selected Items or Renew All.
6. If you are renewing selected items, select the check box by the items to be renewed.
7. Click Renew Selected Items to renew your materials or Clear Selections to start over.

Do not hesitate to contact the reference desk at (203) 351-8221, 351-8222, or 351-8231 if you have questions or encounter any problems.

Reserving Materials:

If the library owns an item, but is currently checked out, you can place a hold to receive the item upon its return. Some new titles are in high demand and have long lists of patrons on hold. You can place holds in person, by telephone, or online. After notification, materials will be held for four days. The second type of reservation is an interlibrary loan. In this instance, the library will procure an item for you from another library in the state, if the item is not owned by us and is not a new release. You can place an interlibrary loan in person or by telephone.

How to Place Holds Online:

You can click Place Hold from the following locations to begin:

1. You can place a hold from Search results on the Item Summary tab.
2. You can place a hold from the item record display of What Others Are Reading.
3. You can place a hold from I Need Material.

Once you have clicked Place Hold, do the following:

1. Type in your user ID or alternate ID (library card #).
2. Type in your PIN.
3. If available, select a library for item pickup.
4. Click Place Hold to place the hold or Reset to start over

IMPORTANT: If the catalog indicates that the item is currently in the library, please allow us at least 24 – 48 hours to pull it from the shelf.

Do not hesitate to contact the reference desk at (203) 351-8221, 351-8222, or 351-8231 if you have questions or encounter any problems.

Self Pick-up Reserves [Main and Harry Bennett] 

• Reserved materials, except InterLibrary loan, are now shelved on the open shelves for you to pick up.
• They are filed alphabetically by a combination of your last name and your library card number, as follows:

  LAST NAME (first 4 letters)
  LIBRARY CARD # (last 4 digits)
  For example, material for John Smith with a card# of 21118001234567 will be filed under SMIT4567.
  

• To ensure your privacy, all reserved materials will be placed inside an expandable pocket secured with a rubber band.
• Please check out your reserved materials at the circulation desk.
• Please put the empty pocket in the designated area or give it back to the circulation staff.
• Do not hesitate to ask the circulation staff if you have any questions.