Skip to Main Content

Circulation: Community Patron Information

Murray Library Community Patron Information

Library Hours

Regular Semester Hours
Monday................8:00am – 11:00pm
Tuesday...............8:00am – 11:00pm
Wednesday..........8:00am – 11:00pm
Thursday..............8:00am – 11:00pm
Friday....................8:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday..............10:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday.................2:00pm – 11:00pm

Thanksgiving Recess Modified Hours
Tuesday, Nov. 25 ............8am – 5pm
Wednesday, Nov. 26........9am – 5pm
Thursday, Nov. 27................CLOSED
Friday, Nov 28......................CLOSED
Saturday, Nov. 29.................CLOSED
Sunday, Nov. 30..............6pm – 11pm

Library Catalog (Primo)

Reference Services

Reference assistance is provided through the green chat bar at the bottom of many library webpages. Librarians are also available by emailing library@messiah.edu. By phone, call 717-691-6006 (ext. 3590) for reference assistance.

Interlibrary Loan

Obtain books and journal articles from other libraries.

Click here to begin the process.

Community Patrons/Friends of the Library

In addition to its own current faculty and staff, Messiah University is pleased to extend borrowing privileges to the following community users at no charge:
  • Messiah alumni with a photo alumni card (issued by Falcon Exchange, 2nd Floor Eisenhower, check hours)
  • Faculty, staff and students from ACLCP member colleges (with a photo ID from their institution)
  • Family of current Messiah employees (issued by Falcon Exchange, 2nd Floor Eisenhower, check hours)
  • Pathways Institute members (with identification)
  • Hoverter Course Students (with identification)
Other community patrons, including area high school students (14 and older) and non-ACLCP college students, can purchase a Friend of the Library card for $35.00 (see “Registration Fee” tab) .
_____
CLERGY NOTICE:
Murray Library is no longer offering free clergy library cards. In moving to our new library online system in 2021, many of our patron categories were consolidated and streamlined for ease into a single category which we are calling “Friend of the Library.” Effective May 17, 2021, a Friend of the Library membership is $35 per year. As a Friend of the Library, we are offering several new borrowing benefits that were not previously available, including:
  • Audiobooks
  • CDs
  • Curriculum guides
  • DVDs
  • Educational Kits
  • Teaching Resources
  • Texts
  • Up to 12 Interlibrary Loan requests a year
At no cost, all guests and visitors are invited and welcome to use any materials within the library building, including full-text article databases found on library computers. Reference services are available, by email, at library@messiah.edu for research assistance in locating resources. Messiah University and many theological libraries across the country participate in interlibrary loan and freely loan to public libraries upon request. Your local public library may offer this service.    
There is a $35 annual fee to register as a "Friend of the Library" and receive a Murray Library card. This annual fee extends all privileges to your immediate family and is transferable, making additional registrations unnecessary.
Registration fees—payable by cash, check, or credit card—are accepted at the Circulation Desk in the library during regular operation hours. You may also join Friends of Murray Library online at any time. Bring the membership receipt to the Circulation Desk with a photo ID to receive or update your library card. There is a $5 fee for replacement of lost Friends of the Library cards.

 

Books have a 21-day loan period. Books may be renewed for an additional 21 days. Review our loan period chart for for a complete list of items and their borrowing periods.
Any book is subject to recall after the initial loan period, requiring return within 3-5 days.
Community borrowers & Friends of the Library may have up to 12 items checked out at any given time.
Note: Certain types of materials do not circulate to community patrons, and we regret that licensing agreements prohibit us from offering off-campus access to databases, eBooks, and eJournals to community borrowers, including Friends of Murray Library. 
If a patron has searched for a library item in Primo that says it is "available" or "not available," they may be able to place a request (hold) for it. To do so,
  • the patron needs to be logged into their Primo account to be able to request an item;
  • on the item's page in Primo, under "Find in Library," click on "Place on Hold;"
  • fill out any necessary information and click on "Send Request" when completed.
Note: if a patron has any overdue items or fines on their account, Primo may not permit them to place a hold on an item. The patron must call or come into the library to take care of these overdues and/or fines before placing a hold request.
A community borrower has 21 days from the due date to return the item before being billed for replacement of the item. These items are subject to a $75 lost item replacement fee. Fees are assessed per item. This process also applies to severely damaged library materials. If a patron finds and returns the lost item in acceptable condition, the Circulation Department will refund the replacement fee. All fees are subject to adjustment at the discretion of the Circulation Department.
Community borrowers pay replacement fees at the library's Circulation desk. Ask for a Circulation supervisor for assistance.
From the library's homepage (www.messiah.edu/murraylibrary), access the library's online catalog and databases. The Library’s online catalog provides entries for the materials in the Library’s collection. It includes the following: books, DVDs, CDs, periodicals, curriculum materials. Access to the catalog is available from PCs in the library, on campus via the campus-wide network, and from off-campus.
The Library also offers a variety of online databases that provide bibliographic and full-text access to journal and magazine articles in a wide range of subjects. Academic Search Ultimate and JSTOR provide full-text articles from thousands of periodicals on a variety of subjects. Many other databases cover different subject areas. A complete list of these databases is available from the Library home page. Due to licensing restrictions, databases and eBooks can only be accessed on campus.
Guests and alumni should stop at the Circulation Desk to ask a staff member to assist with login details for Library computers.
Wireless is available in all campus buildings and select outdoor locations. Wireless access is available to Community readers, Friends, alumni, and visitors to the Library. When given a list of networks on your device, choose "Messiah Guest" for general access.
The Library provides access to Primo and its databases through public search stations (PACs). Guests and alumni should stop at the Circulation Desk to ask a staff member to assist with login details. Please note that the PACs do not have printing capability for guests and alumni, but items can be saved to flashdrives or e-mailed to users' home accounts. 
As of June, 2023, the library no longer has a coin-operated copier for patrons. See the Circulation Desk for details.
Printing is unavailable from computers or personal devices.
Note to Alumni: please see the Circulation Desk for printing options provided by the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations.
We regret that the Library is unable to offer the following to community users and visitors:
  • Access to campus networked drives
  • Access to software housed on the university's secure network
  • Printing (except Alumni: please see the Circulation Desk for printing options provided by the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations.)
  • FAX service
  • Interlibrary Loan -- We regret that the Library is unable to offer Interlibrary Loan service to Community users. Community users may choose to become Friends of Murray Library and receive limited ILL services. For Friends of Murray Library, up to 12 ILL items can be requested per year.

Circulation Desk

phone: (717) 691-6006, ext. 3860
email: CirculationDesk@messiah.edu

Circulation Supervisors

Deb Roof
Circulation Department Supervisor
e-mail: droof@messiah.edu
phone: 717-691-6006 ext. 7293      

 Deb Roof, Circulation Department Supervisor

Rebecca Rosser
Evening Circulation Supervisor
email: rrosser@messiah.edu
phone: 717-691-6006 ext. 7350

Rebecca Rosser, Evening Circulation Supervisor

Keith Jones
Weekend Circulation Supervisor
e-mail: kajones@messiah.edu
phone: 717-691-6006 ext. 3861

Keith Jones, Weekend Circulation Supervisor

Murray Library/Circulation Department  *  Messiah University  *  One University Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6805
phone: (717) 691-6006, ext. 3860  *  email: CirculationDesk@messiah.edu