Services and Policies

Who We Are

Located in Smith Center, Mary Miller Library serves as Hesston College’s learning center. The library supports academic programs and serves students and faculty by providing access to a variety of physical and electronic information resources and by educating library patrons on how to use and evaluate the resources.

The library is a place for quiet study and socialization—a place where students can come to get away from the noise of other facilities and concentrate on their studies, while still enjoying a safe place to visit with their peers. Library patrons are asked to respect the learning environment by speaking quietly and by setting the volume of personal devices to low levels.

Circulation

A formal Hesston College identification card is required for checking out library materials.

All library materials are checked out at the circulation desk. Item’s not checked out will set off the security alarm.

Check-out periods vary:

  • Print and Non-print Materials:
  • Books- from the stacks are available for four-week checkout
  • Periodicals, DVDs, and CDs- are available for one-week checkout
  • Reference books and two-hour reserve material- can be checkout overnight.
    • Reference materials may be checked out one hour before the library closes and are due within one hour after the library opens the next day. Reserve items each have a specified checkout time.
  • Board/Card/Dice Games (Variety)- are available for 3-day checkout.
    • The patron can have up to two games checked out at a time.
    • Games are not renewable over the phone or online and must be returned to the library circulation desk.
  • Disk Golf game sets- 4 hours checkout period
  • Transportation:
  • Bikes- 2 hour checkout period
  • Bike helmets- 2 hour checkout period
  • Technologies:
  • Multi cable charger with USB adapter (3-in-1 USB charging cable)- 24 hour checkout

The circulation desk is located at the library entrance.

Print and non-print materials may be obtained in the open stacks on a self-serve basis. Reserve items need to be requested at the circulation desk.

Material may be renewed only if it is not on hold for another user.

An item may be placed on hold if it is checked out. The requester will be notified when the item is returned to the library.

If an item is missing from the shelves and it is not checked out, notify the desk attendant and a tracer will be put on the missing item. The requester will be notified when/if it is found.

 

Overdue Material Policy

Library staff will send overdue reminders for overdue material. If the material is not returned after the third reminder is sent or at the end of the current term, library staff will send a bill for the replacement cost of the item plus a $5 processing fee.  If the patron fails to pay the bill to the library, library staff will forward the bill to the business office.

  • The library will assess fines for overdue reserve and reference material ($1 each hour, $10 maximum). The $1 fine is effective immediately when the item becomes overdue.
  • Games will be charged $1 per day up to the total purchase cost of the item.
  • The user is responsible for lost or damaged items. The user will be billed for the cost of the replacement of the item. If/when billed items are returned, only the $5 processing fee will be charged to the patron.

Please return all material to the book drop at the circulation desk during library hours. When the library is closed, return items in the book return located to the right of the east Smith Center entrance.

Library Catalog

The catalog serves as an index to all material in the library. The computer catalog indexes each item by key word, author, title, and subject. Mary Miller Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Materials are arranged on the shelves by subject according to a numerical system.

Resources

Circulating books are located in the stacks in the main reading room.  DVDs are located on the north wall. Feature film DVDs are shelved on the farthest west low shelving. CDs are located in the CD cabinet in the northeast corner.

Periodicals in print format to which the Mary Miller Library subscribes are listed on the computer catalog. Current issues are displayed at the west end of the reading room. Back issues are shelved in the library basement. The stairs to the basement are located in the northeast corner of the reading room. Periodicals on microfilm and microfiche are filed in the metal cabinets in the library basement.

The library also holds a variety of online periodical indices. The Library’s online index holdings include EBSCOhost, Gale, ProQuest, and Infobase. These indices are accessible through the World Wide Web on the Mary Miller Library main page. They include full-text articles. Access them on campus computers, on personal  laptop computers and electronic devices, and on personal computers in dorm rooms. All online sources may be accessed from off-campus computers as well.

Reference books include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks and commentaries. The reference collection is located on the low shelving near the library entrance. Large dictionaries are located throughout the library. Online reference sources include Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, EBSCOhost, Infobase, Gale literary databases, GAMEO (Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online), Annals of American History, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, CQ Researcher, Global Issues in Context, and more. They can be accessed from the library main page on any computer on or off campus.

Children’s Books (J) are located in the northeast corner of the library and Fiction Books (F) are located on the low shelving running east and west in the middle of the library.

Reserve material is material which instructors have selected for special class use. The material is placed on reserve to make it equally accessible to all students for a particular class. Students may request reserve material at the circulation desk.

Rotating Books is a collection of books for leisure reading. The rotating collection is located at the west end of the low shelving running east and west in the middle of the library. The collection is changed several times a year.

Oversize books are located in the middle of the reading room south of the tall shelving and atlases are located in a case at the top of the stairway.

Services

Reference
The library staff will help you with your library needs by showing you where things are located, demonstrating electronic resources, and helping you find information for class and personal projects.
Interlibrary Loan
Specific books, audio-visuals and articles owned by other libraries may be borrowed. The Kansas Library Catalog (KLC) which lists books, audio-visuals and periodicals owned by other libraries in the state of Kansas is accessible on the World Wide Web from the Mary Miller Library main page. From the bibliographic record on the KLC for the item needed, click “request this item” and follow the directions, or you can print out a record from the KLC or a citation from an online journal database for each request and leave it with the library staff. Allow one to three weeks to receive the item. A fee of $1 will be charged for each ILL item requested but not checked out.
Lost and Found
Ask at the circulation desk for lost and found items.
Computers
Eleven desktop computers are located throughout the library. They are connected to the campus computer network. A laser printer with color option is available. WiFi is available in the library for the use of personal laptops and electronic devices.

Borrowing privileges from other libraries

Hesston College students have access to a variety of libraries in the area. Hesston and Newton public libraries and Bethel College’s Mantz Library require that a student present his or her Hesston College ID to receive a library card.

Off-Campus Access to Online Databases

To access the Mary Miller Library online databases from off-campus sites, use your Hesston College user name and password.