Skip to main content

                    Borrowing and renewing

                    City Library Closure

                    City Library will close from Friday 29 March until mid 2024.

                    From Tuesday 2 April reservation collection and returns will be available.

                    Find out more information about City Library.

                    Library system outage

                    Our library management software will be down for maintenance on Thursday 9 November between 9pm and 1am.

                    Online services such as renewing, joining or accessing the elibrary will be unavailable.

                    We apologise for any inconvenience.



                    Renew loans

                    You can have more time with an item you’ve borrowed as long as it is not reserved by another person, and you have not reached the limit on renewals. (For most physical items, this is a maximum of 4 renewals.)

                    Renewing is easy:

                    When external events, such as lockdowns, make it hard for everyone to return items, the library will usually extend all current loans. We will tell you on our homepage if this happens.

                    Automatic renewal of Loans

                    City of Melbourne Library will introduce automatic renewals from the 20th March 2023 onward. Loans will be automatically extended for a maximum of four additional loan periods. 

                    This means that one day before the due date, if: 

                    • The items are not reserved by another library member
                    • The items have not already been renewed four times

                    Your item will be automatically renewed for another three weeks. 

                    How do I know if an item hasn’t been automatically renewed? 

                    You can check your account via the library app or catalogue, call us, or visit the library and chat with staff. 

                    If you have email notices as your preference we will contact you by email to alert you to any item(s) that can’t be renewed so they can be returned for other members to borrow. 

                    You are unable to borrow more items until overdue loans are renewed or returned. 

                    Please do this without delay as overdue items impact other users of the library.​

                    ​What you can borrow

                    You can borrow up to 50 items at once for most things. Some specific collections have different limits on how many you can borrow, but 50 items is the total amount you can borrow at one time.

                    Digital collections have their own limits on what you can access. Digital loans do not count towards the 50 loan limit.

                    Find out more about what you can borrow and loan limits for different types of items.

                    Fees and charges

                    City of Melbourne Libraries do not charge fees for late return of items. If you have kept an item later than its due date, you will not be able to borrow new items until items are renewed or returned.

                    We charge replacement costs for items if they are damaged, lost, or more than two months late.  

                    Find out more about all fees and charges.

                    Returning items

                    Items can be returned to any City of Melbourne Library. After-hours chutes are provided at each library.

                    Home Library Service

                    City of Melbourne Libraries offers free delivery of library material to City of Melbourne residents who are unable to visit their local library. Read more about our Home Library Service

                    Home Library Service can be contacted at 03 9658 9600 or hls@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

                    Connect with City of Melbourne Libraries

                    ContactFacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagramSoundCloudiTunes