Borrowing

Loan policies

Types of documents	Loan period	Condition of use	Loan item limit	Renewal	Hold	Borrowers	Late fees2
Books : - General collection - Cultural collection - Course notes - Governmental publ.	30 days		100	Unlimited1	Yes	All	$0.50 / per day
Course Reserves	4 hours		3	No	No	Poly only	$0.50 / 15 min.
Course Reserves - Night Loan	Borrow after 5 p.m. Return before 11 a.m.3		3	No	No	Poly only	$0.50 / 15 min.
Standards	4 hours	In Library use	3	No	Yes	Poly only	$0.50 / 15 min.
Dictionaries	3 days		3	1	Yes	Poly only	$0.50 / day
Board games	10 days		10	2	Yes	Poly only	$0.50 / day
Periodicals - 30 day loan	30 days		100	4	Yes	Poly only	$0.50 / day
Bound periodicals		In Library use			No
Reference		In Library use			No
Rare books		In Library use			No
Microfilms		In Library use			No

¹ Unless the item is reserved by another person, recalled by the Library, blocked on your account, or your account has expired.
² Per item.
³ After a first late return, a note is added to the account, and after a second late return, the overnight loan privilege is suspended for the current term.

Borrow a device

Devices	Loan period	Condition of use	Renewal	Reservation	Borrowers	Lates fees
Laptops	4 hours	In Library use	No1	No	Poly only	$0.50 / 15 min.
Laptops	24 and 72 hours		No1	No	Poly only	$5 / Day
Calculators	24 hours		No1	Yes2	Poly only	$5 / Day
Gadgets from Techno-prêt	3 days		No1	Yes2	Poly only	$0.50 / Day
Gadgets from Techno-prêt	4 hours	In Library use	No1	No	Poly only	$0.50 / 15 min.
Gadgets from Techno-prêt	30 days		No1	No	Poly only	$0.50 / Day

¹  One hour delay before re-borrowing the same item.
²  Only if an item is borrowed.

Detailed descriptions of devices are provided on the Techno-Prêt page.

Lost or expired card

Lost, stolen, or damaged cards: Contact the Registrar’s Office to request a reprint of your card. The reprint fee will be charged directly to your student account.

Expired card: Visit the Service de la sûreté institutionnelle at Polytechnique, located in the Main Building (A-100) and the Lassonde Buildings (M-1101), to renew your card. The Security staff will place a sticker on it to confirm its validity and extend its expiration date.

Please allow 24 to 48 hours from the card’s issue date before borrowing from the Library.

Borrowing according to your status

Active members of the Polytechnique community
As an active member of the Polytechnique Montréal community, you can borrow materials from the Library using your Polytechnique ID card.

International interns and visiting professors at Polytechnique
Send a photo (front and back) of your ID card to biblio@polymtl.ca. A staff member will contact you to set up your account.

Members of Quebec universities
As a student of a Quebec university, you may borrow materials from the Louise-Lalonde-Lamarre Library. To borrow, simply present your university ID card.

You also have access to some of our services.

Paid membership and alumni
Graduates or individuals who are not members of the Polytechnique community can obtain an annual borrowing membership by making a $125 donation to the Polytechnique Foundation and Alumni.

This type of membership does not provide remote access to the Library’s electronic resources.

Visitors
Visitors who are not members may consult the Library’s electronic resources on-site by filling out the form “Temporary Access Privilege to Electronic Resources.” A one-day access will be granted.

Borrowing from a university library in Quebec

As an active member of the Polytechnique Montréal community, you can borrow printed materials from the network of 18 university libraries in Quebec (BUQ). Click the Get button in the Sofia discovery tool.

This service does not apply to electronic resources, including e-books.

Borrowing from an international library

If you wish to obtain a document that is not part of the PBUQ network (Parternariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Quebec), please visit our page on Interlibrary Loan service (ILL).

Returning documents

You can return borrowed materials at the Library’s service desk or in the book drop located at the exterior entrance of the Library on the 7th floor of the Lassonde Buildings.

Materials borrowed from a Quebec university library (BUQ) can be returned to any BUQ library. This service does not apply to materials borrowed from BAnQ or from libraries outside the Quebec university library network.

Lost or damaged materials

For any item declared lost, late fees as well as replacement fees will be added to your account, and an invoice will be sent to your Polytechnique email address.

If staff find that a returned item is damaged, replacement fees will be applied to your account.

Accessing my account to review my loans

1. Go to Sofia.
2. Click on the Login icon located at the top right of the page.
3. Select your login method and enter the requested information.

To discover other features of your borrowing account, see the My Account section in our guide “Search in Sofia.”

Document is already borrowed: how to get it?

Since loans are automatically renewed every 30 days as long as the item is not reserved by someone else, we recommend that you place a reservation. Indeed, when a document is reserved, it cannot be renewed. The user who currently has it must return it so the user who reserved it can borrow it next.

How to reserve a document:

1. In the Sofia discovery tool, click on the title of the document to access the detailed record.
2. Click Get / Reserve.
3. Log in if you haven't already.
4. Select Any copy (recommended).
5. Choose Polytechnique - Lassonde as the pick-up location for physical documents.
6. Click Submit to confirm your reservation request.
7. You will receive an email as soon as your document is ready to be picked up at the Library’s service desk.
8. From the moment you receive the email notification, you have 7 days to pick up your reserved document. The pick-up period is 2 days for games, standards, and dictionaries.

Renewing a loan

To renew loans, go to the Checkouts tab in your user account, select the desired documents, and click the Renew items button. Renewal can only be done before the due date.

Paying late fees

You can borrow materials as long as your account balance does not exceed $50, after which your account will be blocked.

In-person payment: Visit the Library service desk (L-7600). Cash, debit, and credit cards are accepted.

Online payment:

1. Log into your account in the Sofia discovery tool.
2. Click the arrow to the right of My Account, then select Fees from the dropdown menu.
3. Select the fees you want to pay, then click Pay Fees. Read the displayed conditions, then click the I accept. Pay now button.
4. Fill in the required fields with your payment information and click Pay Fees to complete the transaction.
5. Once submitted, you will see the message: “Payment submitted. Fees will be removed from your account once the payment is processed.”
6. A confirmation email will be sent to the address provided in the payment form.
7. The transaction will appear on your credit card statement as: SOFIABUQ514-2888524.