Union Presbyterian Seminary students and faculty members may request Library books by mail in the following two ways:

Books by Mail to the Charlotte Library

Charlotte students and faculty members may request that books be mailed from the Richmond Library to the Charlotte Library (free of charge) by placing a hold on the book that they require. The “hold” option is located just to the right of the book title in the Library’s online catalog. After selecting the hold button, users will be asked to enter their library card barcode number and PIN. The requested book should be available for the student to check out at the Charlotte Library within 3-5 days. If Charlotte students and faculty members have questions about this service, they may contact the Seminary Librarian (Robin McCall) at 804-278-4311 or rmccall@upsem.edu.

Books by Mail to a Residential Address

Students who live 40 or more miles from the Seminary’s campuses and are enrolled for credit in an online or hybrid course may request that Library books be mailed directly to the student’s residential address. (Please note that we are unable to mail books that are on a current course reserve.) If special conditions require all courses to be held online or for either campus library to be closed temporarily, eligibility for this service may be extended to additional students.

Requests for books to be mailed directly to students should be submitted by email to either the Reference Librarian in Richmond (for resources based in Richmond) or to the Library Director in Charlotte (for resources based in Charlotte). NOTE: For the remainder of 2023-2024 academic year, please contact Mengistu Lemma. If a student requests a book by mail that is in the Charlotte collection, it will be mailed from Charlotte; books mailed from Richmond will be books that are only available at Morton Library. In addition to facilitating this service, the Reference Librarian and Charlotte Library Director may suggest alternative ways of accessing the content that is needed, including digital scanning if 10% of less of a book is needed. Furthermore, the Reference librarian and Charlotte Library Director may help determine whether Borrowing from Partner Libraries (Atla, VIVA, or CTLC reciprocal borrowing participants) or other academic libraries is an option where the student lives.

You can search WorldCat to find the nearest library to you that has the book you need. Then you can check our database list or Google map (click the down arrow next to “All Items” under “Borrowing Partners” for an alphabetical list of institution names) of libraries with whom we have reciprocal borrowing agreements to determine whether your book is available from an institution near you where you have borrowing privileges as a UPSem student.

The following conditions apply to requests of this type:

1. Only books that are in circulation are eligible to be mailed in this way. Non-circulating books, non-book materials, and books that are also available as e-books in the Library catalog will not be mailed directly to a residential address.
2. Books will only be mailed within the continental United States.
3. Up to ten books at a time and a maximum of 30 books per academic year may be mailed to a student in this way.
4. Books will be mailed via USPS Library Rate with delivery tracking. Overnight shipping is not available. Expedited shipping may be requested at the student’s expense.
5. UPSem will cover the cost of shipping to the student, but the student is responsible for returning the book[s] on time, either by returning them to the Charlotte library, the Richmond library, or by paying to mail them back to the appropriate library. We recommend packing items securely (as some packages come open in the mail) and mailing return items with delivery tracking to provide additional information in the case of a late/non-delivery. Return shipping materials or pre-paid shipping labels will not be provided.
6. After three weeks, if a book that has been mailed directly to a student is recalled by another library patron, it is the student’s responsibility to return the book to the appropriate library in a timely manner, at their own expense if returned by mail.