Returning Items and Summer Opening Hours

Are you a student with us who is graduating or leaving the university this summer? We hope you have enjoyed your time with us, and gotten the best out of our library resources and services as well. You may still have some books or a laptop on loan from us – if you are coming towards the end of your course, it’s time to bring these back to us! The good news is that our return processes for both laptops and books are straightforward and self-service.

Returning Books…

All of our campus libraries have return boxes throughout the building, usually next to our self-service kiosks. To return a book to us and ensure the loan is cleared from your account, bring your books or items to a self-service kiosk in the library, click the red ‘Return’ button, and place the item or items under the kiosk screen to scan and process them as returns. Once you have done this, you can then place them in our return bins, and our library staff will re-shelve them again.

Don’t worry if you have forgotten to scan it through our library self-service kiosks when you drop it into our boxes however, our library staff scan all books we find in our return bins through the kiosks again to check if they have been requested by another patron, or simply sent to one of our other campus libraries to be reshelved. Which means yes – you can indeed return your books to a different campus library from which you retrieved or collected them! We also have return boxes in all Edinburgh Napier student accommodation buildings as well.

Can’t get to campus? You can also post any books or items you need to return to us by mailing them to one of our three campus addresses. We would recommend posting them in a padded envelope as items remain your responsibility until they arrive with us.

Returning Laptops…

Our Lapsafe lockers in all three of our campus libraries, the JKCC and Bainfield Student Accommodation, are self-service, and the returns process for our Lapsafe laptops is similar to the borrowing process. All you need to do is scan your physical or digital student card at the machine, click on the ‘Return’ button when this comes up on the screen and the locker from which you retrieved the laptop when you borrowed it will start flashing. You will then be able to open the locker and return the laptop along with the charger. Please ensure that you plug it into the USB-C charging cable inside as well to ensure it processes as a return. All Lapsafe laptops must be returned to the original campus or building locker from which they were borrowed.

If you are having trouble getting to campus to return a Lapsafe laptop device to us, we generally recommend asking someone to return it for you or arranging a courier service to deliver it to us. The person or courier returning the laptop to us on your behalf must have your student card on hand. We do not recommend sending the laptop to us, as it may be damaged in transit.

Opening Hours and Contact Details…

If you are having trouble returning any items or a Lapsafe laptop to us, or if you have any extenuating circumstances affecting this, you can get in touch with us by emailing library@napier.ac.uk or phoning 01314553500. We are more than happy to help! Our opening hours remain the same over the summer period, with our helpdesks open and helpdesk staff available from 8:45am-16:45pm to take any calls or answer any queries at our helpdesks or via email. You can find more information about our Opening Hours, staffed and unstaffed, in our My Napier webpages. This also includes further information about the essential works taking place at Merchiston campus library this summer, from the 18th of May until Friday 4 September 2026, and how this will also affect their opening hours and library space access.

By Rachel Downie

Read more about Merchiston library over the summer