Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College

Borrow, Renew, Request

Borrow, Renew, Request

Borrowing Materials

Students Faculty & Staff Community Patrons
Required Cards NOVACard NOVACard Community Patron Card
Loan Periods 3 weeks
(except course reserves and equipment)		 3 weeks 3 weeks
Borrowing Limits 30 items total 30 items total 10 items total

NOVA Students, Faculty, and Staff

NOVA students, faculty, and staff are required to have a valid NOVACard to borrow library materials. For more information about NOVACards, please see the NOVACard website.

Community Patrons

To obtain a Community Patron Card, community members must verify their name and show proof of Virginia residency or affiliation with a Virginia school. A Virginia driver’s license or Virginia state ID covers both. Additional options include, but are not limited to:

Verification Name Verification Residency or Affiliation Verification
Additional IDs include:
  • Government-issued ID
  • School ID
  • Health insurance card
  • Car registration
  • Lease or mortgage statement
  • Utility bill
  • Military orders
  • Paystub
  • Tax bill
  • Mail
  • Shelter letters

Community patrons are required to have their Community Patron Card to borrow library materials. For more information about Community Patron Cards, please contact a campus library.

Intercampus Loans

NOVA students, faculty, and staff can request to have library items sent from one campus library to another. They can submit requests online by following the instructions on the Requesting tab below. They can also make requests in person or by contacting a campus library. Community patrons can make requests in person or by contacting a campus library.

When a requested item is ready for pickup, NOVA will send an email notification. Notifications for students will be sent to their MyNOVA email accounts. Notifications for faculty and staff will be sent to their NVCC email accounts. Notifications for community patrons will be sent to the email address provided when they obtained their Community Patron Card.

Interlibrary Loans

Students, faculty and staff can submit requests for interlibrary loans by using the Interlibrary Loan Request Form. NOVA Libraries provides interlibrary loan service to students, faculty, and staff. The purpose of interlibrary loan is to obtain materials that are needed for college-related research and are not available in the NOVA Libraries collection.

Course Reserves

For information about course reserves, please see the Course Reserves section of the Library Policies webpage.

Renewing Materials

Students Faculty & Staff Community Patrons
Renewal Limits 1 renewal (except course reserves) 5 renewals 1 renewal

NOVA Students

Library items (except course reserves) can be renewed once, unless they are overdue or have been requested by other patrons. Items can be renewed online, in person, or by contacting a campus library. For instructions on renewing items online, please see below.

NOVA Faculty and Staff

Library items are renewed automatically up to five times, unless they have been requested by other patrons.

Community Patrons

Library items can be renewed once, unless they are overdue or have been requested by other patrons. Items can be renewed in person or by contacting a campus library.

How to Renew Items Online

For instructions, please see How to Renew Items Online.

Requesting Materials

NOVA students, faculty, and staff can submit requests online to pick up library items at their preferred campus. For instructions, please see below. For more information about intercampus loans, please see the Intercampus Loans section under the Borrowing tab above. Course reserves and textbooks are only available at each campus' circulation desk and cannot be requested through intercampus or interlibrary loan.

How to Request Items Online

For instructions, please see How to Request Items Online.

Privileges at GMU

NOVA students and faculty are eligible for limited borrowing privileges at George Mason University Libraries at no cost. Additional details can be found on the Special Groups webpage under the VIVA Cooperative Borrowing Program section.

Privileges at other Academic Libraries

As a member of the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA), NOVA students and faculty can borrow materials on-site from any participating academic library through the Cooperative Borrowing Program.