Education Resource Center Policies

The ERC is in the midst of a transition of services and resources, and the information on these pages may not be up to date. Please contact Sebastian Derry (sderry@udel.edu) with any questions, or to find out if the resources you are looking for have moved to Morris Library.

The mission of the Education Resource Center (ERC) is to provide preschool through grade 12 (PreK-12) curriculum resources and related services for the preparation and professional development of educators in support of national and Delaware content and performance standards. The ERC will serve and or partner with:

  • University of Delaware education candidates and faculty
  • Candidates in the School Library Media Program
  • University of Delaware Pre-K through 12 schools located on campus, state and community agencies and Delaware school districts.

General Collection

The materials in the Education Resource Center are available to current University of Delaware faculty, staff and students with a valid University of Delaware ID card.

  • Patrons are responsible for all items borrowed on their account and are liable for all fines and charges to the account.  There will be a non-refundable processing fee of $45 for UD library materials.
  • Patrons are prohibited by ERC policy from lending their library card to others.
  • Patrons who abuse ERC borrowing privileges may have their privileges suspended which will prevent the patron from borrowing and renewing materials.  Examples of abuse of library borrowing privileges include but are not limited to delinquency in returning materials by stated due dates, not paying replacement fees, not responding to library notices, and mutilation or damage of library materials.
  • Patrons are responsible for keeping track of all due dates and returning or renewing materials by the due date.
  • In order to allow equal access of materials to all patrons, items must be returned after the maximum renewal before the original user can borrow them again.
  • Loan period for the general collection is 21 days.

Test Kits and Reserves

  • ERC test kits are restricted to current UD faculty and students.
  • Test kits have a loan period of 3 days with no renewals. Please see the ERC Test Kit Policies for details.
  • Test kits are be due back to the ERC 7 days before the last day of each semester.
  • Reserve items have loan periods of 2 hours, 1 day, 2 days or 1 week depending on the faculty request with a maximum of 2 renewals.

* Please note there are no refunds or returns on purchased protocols.

Overdue Items

Borrowers are individually responsible for keeping track of due dates and for returning in person at the ERC service desk by the date due.

If items are not returned to the Education Resource Center before the due date/time, an automatic block will be activated on the user’s library account. While an overdue item block is in place, users cannot borrow any additional items from the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press collections.

Should items be overdue for longer than 15 days (excluding days the Center is closed), the borrower will automatically be billed the associated replacement fee for the items/kits and the overdue block will be lifted. If items/kits are not returned within 15 days of the automatic billing (excluding days the Center is closed, for a total of 30 days overdue), the items/kits will be declared lost and no refund of the automatically applied replacement fee will be available.  There will be a non-refundable processing fee of $45 for UD library materials.

Lost & Damaged Equipment

If borrowed equipment is not returned fifteenth day after the due date, an automatic replacement charge for the items/kits will be assessed to the borrower’s University of Delaware account. Following the automatic billing, Education Resource Center staff will make efforts to contact the borrower. If after an additional 15 days the items/kits have still not been returned, the equipment will be declared lost and replacement items will be purchased. Consequently, no refund of the replacement fee can be credited to the borrower once the items/kits are declared lost. If a billed item is returned undamaged within 30 days of the original due date and time, the replacement fee can be waived. Processing fees, if any, cannot be waived since the Library has already incurred the cost of processing.  Users will be billed for damages to equipment, unless such damages are deemed normal ‘wear and tear’ by staff. If damaged equipment cannot be repaired, the user will be billed the cost of replacement.

Non-UD Patrons – Public Borrower

Non-University of Delaware patrons (patrons without a valid UD ID) may use the ERC general collection materials within the ERC without paying the patron fee. Community patrons who want to borrow general collection materials and assistive technology, must purchase a Public Borrower card.

  • The Public Borrower card is non-transferable, and borrowing rights will be voided if the card is used by someone other than the registered patron or if borrowing privileges are abused (i.e., excessive overdue fines, etc.)
  • Non-UD patrons may not borrow tests kits or  reserve materials.