Canadian University Reciprocal Borrowing Agreement

Overview

The Canadian Universities' Reciprocal Borrowing Agreement (CURBA) is an agreement that allows Canadian university students, faculty and staff to borrow from almost all other Canadian university libraries.

Canadian university libraries participate in CURBA through their regional group, called a consortium, and each of these regional consortia issues a CURBA-recognized borrower's card. UPEI belongs to the CAAL-CBPA (Council of Atlantic Academic Libraries / Conseil des bibliothèques postsecondaires de l'Atlantique) consortium. 

See the list of all libraries participating in CURBA here.

  • Information for UPEI Students, Faculty, and Staff

    UPEI Students, Faculty and Staff

    Borrowing Privileges

    Borrowing privileges and loan periods vary from region to region and library to library. For more information, inquire with the library you want to borrow from. 

    • The lending library's policies and regulations related to loans, renewal, recall procedures, and fines will apply to all loans.
    • Lost or damaged materials should be reported to the owning institution.
    • Students, faculty and staff are responsible for paying any fines, lost book charges or processing charges incurred while borrowing at a different library under the CURBA agreement.

    Materials may not be returned to libraries outside the regional consortium of the original lending library. For example, books borrowed from the University of Ottawa may be returned to Queen's University, but not to the University of Prince Edward Island.

    Access and Limitations

    Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff

    Graduate students, faculty and staff with a valid CAAL card are entitled to borrowing privileges at all participating libraries. UPEI retired faculty and staff are also eligible to get a CAAL/CURBA card.

    Undergraduate Students

    Undergraduate students with a valid CAAL card are entitled to borrowing privileges at participating libraries with the following exception:

    • University of Toronto

    Card Acquisition

    Contact smerz-wood@upei.ca or phone the UPEI service desk at 902-566-0583.

  • Information for Visiting Patrons with CURBA-Recognized Cards

    UPEI Services for Visiting Patrons with CURBA-Recognized Cards

    If you are coming to UPEI from another Canadian university to do research, obtain your CURBA-recognized borrower's card from your home library prior to leaving.

    Loan Periods

    Category of Library UserGeneral Loan Period
    Undergraduate, Graduate, or Staff4 weeks
    Faculty120 days

    Additional Services

    • Renewals available on materials not requested by other users
    • Holds may be placed on UPEI Library material that is signed out
    • In-person use of electronic resources via our library workstations
    • Reserve materials not available for loan
    • Document Delivery (may be subject to fees)