FOLIO and Discover Library Systems

In summer 2022 the Five Colleges Libraries completed implementation of FOLIO, a new shared library services platform.  See below to learn more about your library account and our shared circulation policies.

Still have questions? Contact library@amherst.edu or use the Chat box on this page under Ask a Librarian.

You can view your loans, request, and renew items in Discover, in addition to searching the Five College catalog and our databases.

See the Access My Library Account section to learn how to sign in to your library account and use common features. Our migration to FOLIO included some improvements to your library account:

• You can view all of your Five College loans listed together in order by due date

• You can see what number you are in the request queue for Amherst and Five College items

• Items you have already requested are clearly marked when you are signed in to your account when searching the catalog

As part of our system migration, the Five Colleges Libraries worked together to review and revise circulation policies across the consortium. Our goal was to align our policies to provide you with a consistent and positive experience across our libraries. The result? Longer loan periods! More renewals! No more overdue fines!

Loan periods and renewals

Visit our Loan Periods page to see policies for students, faculty and staff, and area residents. Here are some notable aspects:

• Faculty and Staff have 1-year loan periods and unlimited renewals for items borrowed from the general collections across the Five Colleges (an increase from our previous 90 days, with 3 renewals)

• Students, faculty and staff can borrow DVDs/media/journals for 7 days, with 2 renewals (an increase from 5 days, with 2 renewals for students)

Fees & fines

As part of our efforts to continue addressing questions of equity and access, and to remove barriers to essential resources, the Five Colleges Libraries discontinued the following overdue fines:

• Course reserves. Borrowers receive courtesy notices instead of fines when an item is overdue. After 24 hours, if the item is not returned, we will bill the item to your account.
   
• Recalled items. Books may be recalled from you when another user has requested them or if they are needed for the Reserves collection at the Library. When this happens, we will adjust your due date. If an item is 7 days overdue, we will bill the item to your account.

Our library system generates a number of automated notices in response to your loans. FOLIO is able to send notices in real time, rather than on a set schedule. This is especially helpful when you are borrowing an item for a short period of time (e.g. a computer charger or reserve book), as your courtesy due date reminder notices will now dependably come 30 minutes before your item is due.
 

FOLIO’s automated notices are sent from noreply@libraries.fivecolleges.edu. This is a no-reply email address, and is not configured to receive incoming mail.

If you have a question about a notice you’ve received, please forward the message and your question to Access Services at libcirc@amherst.edu, or give us a call at 413-542-2373.