2658 East Main Road | Portsmouth, RI | 02871 | (401) 683-9457 | Hours

Borrow, Interlibrary Loan, Renew, Fines

Renew and reserve Library items and check your Library record online at My Account

Borrowing Limits & Loan Periods
The checkout period for books and books on CD is three weeks. DVDs, videos, periodicals, and music CDs may be checked out for one week.  Children's items circulate for three weeks.
 
Interlibrary Loan
You can request materials via the Reference staff in person, by phone or via email to reference@portsmouthlibrary.org.  You will be notified by phone or email when the item is available for pickup.  If the item you want is not available within the Ocean State Libraries consortium, the Reference staff shall try to obtain the item from college and university libraries in Rhode Island.  If the item is not found, it may be requested from out-of-state.  There is no guarantee that the materials requested will be available from another institution.  Interlibrary loans obtained from libraries outside the statewide delivery system are subject to a fee of $5.00 per item to offset the cost of postage when returning  an item to the owning library. This fee is payable when the interlibrary loan request is picked up by the patron. 
 
Portsmouth Free Public Library completely shares all of its circulating materials except for those items which are classified as equipment or reference materials.
 

Renewing Your Borrowed Items

Items may be renewed in person, by phone, or via the internet.  Only books and books on CD may be renewed for two additional 3-week periods unless another patron has placed a hold on that item. No other items may be renewed.
 
Overdue Notices
In order to remind Library users that they have overdue items, three notices will be sent: (1) an overdue notice at 7 days; (2) a second overdue notice at 14 days past due; (3) and a billing notice at 30 days past due.  Notices are sent via email or print depending upon your library card registration preferences.
 
Library Fines - Portsmouth Free Public Library no longer charges fines except for equipment such as the telescope, museum passes, etc.

       Payment of Fines: The Library will accept the following forms of payment for fines accrued:
  • Cash
  • Personal check made out to the Library for the exact amount of the fines.
  • Money order or cashier’s check
  • Visa, MasterCard or Discover (online only)
  • Returned checks will be assessed a $25 fee.  
Borrower Blocks
  • Patrons will be blocked from borrowing materials if any of the following conditions exist:
  • If their overdue fines are $5.00 or more
  • If they have more than five (5) active claims returned
  • If the Library has reason to believe that the user has changed address; when this is the case, the library user may be asked to present current address verification before being permitted to check out materials.
  • If there is reasonable doubt of the person’s identity or permission to use the card.