Knowledge Base

In Alma, there is a maximum renewal period, which dictates the total loan length. At CUNY, we have set this to 48 weeks—in essence, that’s three 16-week loans—for regularly circulating materials.

• If an item is overdue and the patron renews the item, they do not get extra time with it. If necessary, Alma will shorten the length of the renewal so the patron only ever gets a maximum of 48 weeks with the item.
• If a patron renews a loan before it is due, they get an additional 16 weeks from the time of renewal. If the new due date is before the 48 weeks of the initial loan, they can renew the item again—however, Alma will shorten the length of the renewal so the patron only ever gets a maximum of 48 weeks with the item.

In other words, Alma does not reward users for renewing overdue loans and it does not penalize patrons for renewing their materials early. From the day they borrowed the item, they have a maximum of 48 weeks with it. They can return it on or before the initial 16 weeks—or they can renew it as many time as it takes them to get to that maximum 48 weeks.