It costs nothing for our members to borrow from the library – all the information you need as to how to borrow is on this page. A how to guide for reserving and borrowing items is also available.
Reserving Items
You are welcome to reserve as many items as you need each week by logging in to our library page. To help our volunteers and speed up the collection process, we ask that members request all the items they wish to borrow each time in one order.
At present you may reserve items up to 7 days before your loan can start, and we request that items are reserved by 9am on the day of pickup to allow our volunteers time to prepare your order before the pickup session begins. If you wish to reserve items more than one week into the future, or for longer than the usual four days, please contact us explaining your circumstances as our volunteers will need to do this for you.
Please note that your reservation will not be confirmed until you have received two emails from us:
- An email confirming your order has been accepted. We will check your items are available and in a suitable condition for you to borrow.
- An email confirming your reservation is ready. We confirm that your items are in the library and ready for you to collect. Please note that your reservation is not fully confirmed until you receive this email from us.
If you don’t receive these emails from us, please contact us. A note of other emails relating to your reservation that you might receive, for example if we have to decline your reservation request, is available in the Reservation and Borrowing how too guide.
Please note that you don’t have to reserve – you can call in to our pickup session without a reservation and borrow available items on the spot.
Collecting and Returning Items:
We operate a regular pattern of borrowing each week so that we can serve as many people as we can and to help ensure that items are ready and available for the next borrower each week.
All collections and returns are at the Pen-y-Coe Press, 7 Bridge Street in Penicuik.
ITEMS BORROWED
Saturdays – 10:00am-11:00am
Making an online reservation is recommended. It enables you to reserve items and allows for a smoother collection from our friendly volunteers and Pen-y-Coe Press.
ITEMS RETURNED
Tuesdays – 10:00am-1:00pm
Wednesdays – 2:00pm-4:00pm
Please ‘share nice’ and return everything on time, clean and ready for the next borrower. Although members are not charged for loans, there is a fee for late returns.
ITEMS CHECKED
Thursdays and Fridays
Our volunteers check items to confirm they are ready for the next borrower.
If you are unable to manage the collection and return times, we can arrange for a second designated person to be listed on your account who can collect and return your items for you – you can add a second person to your account by filling in the online form or by contacting us as we will need to do this for you. Alternatively, if our volunteers are available, we may be able to make other arrangements – please get in touch with us and we’ll help if we can.
Likewise, if you have need to extend the loan, please ask the volunteers when collecting and if we can, we’ll set the due date for not the coming Wednesday but the one after (11 days). But please only ask if you really need the extra time.
A how to guide to reserving and borrowing items, along with a reminder of your responsibilities is available.