Borrowing & Requests

If you need additional information, please email us or call 269-329-4544.

Library Card

Lending & Account Limits

• 2 renewals allowed for items that are not on hold for another member
• Hot Pick items and other special collections cannot be renewed
• 5 juvenile DVDs will be allowed per account in addition to 5 other movies and 5 rated “R” movies (excluding Hot Picks)
• Members, with the exception of reciprocal borrowers, can have an additional 2 movies and 2 rated “R” movies from the Hot Pick collection
• 5 holds per user for reciprocal borrowers; 25 holds per user for all other members
• You must be 18 years of age or older to check out rated “R” movies from our collections
• A juvenile or student membership cannot be used to checkout rated “R” movies, even if a parent is present
• Accounts with $25.00 or more in fines or fees are blocked from checking out library materials
• Most memberships require in-person renewal every two years
• Paying non-resident, Portage Public School student, and educator memberships expire annually

Checkout our full Fines & Fees/Usage Policy for more information.

Loan Periods

Media	Loan Period
Books	4 weeks
New Adult Fiction	2 weeks
Talking Books	4 weeks
CD (Limit 10)	2 weeks
DVD (Limit 5 regular/5 juvenile/5 rated “R”)	1 week
Magazines	2 weeks
Discovery Kits / Special Collections (Limit 2)	1 week
Playaway View (Limit 1)	1 week
Book Discussion/Diagnosis Bags (no renewals)(Limit 2)	6 weeks
Weekend Bags (no renewal)(Limit1)	2 weeks
Hot Pick Movies /Music/Games (no renewals)(Limit 2)	1 week
Hot Pick Books (no renewals)(Limit 2)	2 weeks
Mobile Hotspot (no renewals)(Limit 1)	2 weeks
Laptop Computer (in library use only)(Limit 1)	2 hours
Flash Drive (no renewals)(Limit 1)	1 week
Telescope Kits (no renewals)(Limit 1)	1 week

Requests

Items may be requested in several ways. Hot Pick items are not available to be requested.

Hold Request

If the item you are looking for is checked out, you may place a request for it to be held for you through our public access catalog or by asking a librarian. Request queues are formed for high demand items. You will be notified by email or standard mail when your requested item becomes available.

Inter-library Loan (MeLCat)

All members, with the exception of reciprocal borrowers, can utilize inter-library loan to order items that are currently unavailable or are not owned by Portage District Library. Please understand that most libraries are unwilling to lend their newest or most popular items, so inter-library loan may not be a good solution for newer titles. Learn more about inter-library loans.

Reciprocal Borrowing

Don’t forget about our many reciprocal borrowing agreements with other local libraries. You may be able to find what you need locally and check it out directly! Learn more about reciprocal borrowing

Purchase Request

If the item you are looking for is not in our collection, you can suggest that we purchase it for the Library. Purchase requests are reviewed by library staff on a regular basis. While we can not accommodate all requests, we are able to add many items to the collection in this way.