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Borrowing periods and overdue charges

There are no charges for reserving a title unless we need to get it from another library service.

However, if items have not been returned, overdue charges will apply and notices are sent after 21 and 42 days, and an invoice for replacement is sent after 72 days. The invoice includes the overdue charge as well as the replacement cost.

We don’t charge fees or fines for any of our eLibrary services.

Physical titles

What you can borrow	Loan period	Maximum titles	Charges	Overdue charges	Max overdue charges
Adult books (each)	3 weeks	20	Free	15p/day	£7.35
Young Adult books	3 weeks	20	Free	1p/day	49p
Children's books (each)	3 weeks	20	Free	No charge	No charge
Spoken Word (1-2 CD)	3 weeks	6	Free	13p/day	£6.37
Spoken Word (3+ CD)	3 weeks	6	Free	25p/day	£12.25
Move It Sports Equipment	6 weeks	5	Free	15p/day	£7.35
Literacy Games	1 week	6	Free	No charge	No charge
Micro:bits	3 weeks	6	Free	No charge	No charge
Language courses, single and double items	6 weeks	6	Free	26p/day	£12.74
Language courses, Sets 3+	6 weeks	6	Free	37p/day	£18.13
Dementia Friendly Jigsaws	3 weeks	6	Free	No charge	No charge
Blood Pressure Monitor	3 weeks	6	Free	15p/day	£7.35
Get Ready for School Packs	3 weeks	6	Free	No charge	No charge
Story Sacks	3 weeks	6	Free	No charge	No charge

eLibrary titles

We don’t charge fees or fines for any of our eLibrary services.

Service	Type	Loan period	Maximum loans
Overdrive/Libby	eBooks and audiobooks	3 weeks (automatically expires)	10
BorrowBox	Audiobooks	3 weeks (automatically expires)	6
Kanopy	Streamed films, documentaries and courses	Unlimited children's films with 30 credits a month for remaining content Films and documentaries = 2 tickets with 72 hours access Courses = 5 tickets with 72 hours to 7 days access	n/a
Freegal	Muisc downloads and streaming	Unlimited streaming. Each week = 5 track downloads 2 video downloads	n/a
PressReader	eNewspapers and eMagazines	Unlimited	Unlimited

Lost or damaged titles

If you’ve lost or damaged one of our items, report it to any Suffolk library, call 0345 60 630 60 or email library.help@suffolk.gov.uk.

A charge for the title’s cover price will be added to your account*. You can pay this at your local library or by calling us on 0345 60 630 60 at your convenience. You can also pay your charges online.

As long as you have less than £14 owing on your account, you can continue to use our services.

We don’t accept replacement copies of items. This is because the replacement title may not be the same edition, or of sufficient quality for our collections. Alternatively, our stock team may prefer to use the replacement fee to buy new and different titles.

*Excluding board and picture books. We won’t charge replacement fees for these books while young children are learning how to look after them.

Need help getting started?

We’ve created simple, step-by-step guides to help you navigate the catalogue covering how to search, reserve, and manage notifications.

If you have any issues or questions, our customer support team is ready to assist. They can help with card registration, reservations, account access and more.