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York College Library

The Library provides a broad, balanced collection for academic research and a space for collaboration and individual study. The Library has 14 group study rooms, large tables for group work, and dozens of individual study carrels that are equipped with electrical outlets. The Library has 220 computers, 20 laptops, 20 iPads, 5 scanners, 7 printers, 7 photocopy machines, and 2 pay stations (at which users can set up accounts to print and copy). There are also six desktop magnifiers that comply with ADA standards for patrons with low vision. Most of the Library's print collection is available in open stacks and is arranged according to the Library of Congress classification scheme. The present collection includes over 161,000 print books, over one million e-books, 38 current periodical titles in print, plus over 220,000 online full-text open access and subscription journals, newspapers, and popular magazines.

Special collections include the Bassin Collection, the James Como Collection, the Kenneth Adams Collection, the Paule Marshall Collection, Library of American Civilization, representative American and foreign newspapers, American Federation of Labor Records, John L. Lewis Papers, Morris Hillquit Papers, Papers of the NAACP, and the United Negro College Fund Archives. The Library's subject liaisons serve 26 academic disciplines and programs. York's faculty members are strongly encouraged to participate in the Library's collection development to ensure the Library provides an up-to-date and comprehensive collection that meets the research needs of students and faculty in every discipline. Faculty members are also encouraged to place copies of their course textbooks in the Library's Reserve Collection, and to place electronic copies of materials on e-reserve [https://libguides.york.cuny.edu/coursereserves/faculty].

The Library cooperates closely with all academic departments in making available special reserves and loans. Patrons must have an active CUNY First account whenever materials are borrowed. With the exception of reference and reserve materials, students may check out books for a period of eight weeks.

The Library's holdings are augmented locally through interlibrary loan arrangements. Two services, CLICS and ILLiad, make local, national, and international resources available to faculty, staff, and students. CUNY Libraries Inter-Campus Services (CLICS) allows individuals to request materials from other CUNY libraries. For those materials unavailable through CLICS, students, faculty, and staff may file an interlibrary loan (ILL) request via the ILLiad service.

The Library's electronic resources are accessible from off-campus by logging in with the CUNY Login (the same credentials used for Blackboard and/or CUNYfirst), or after logging in with a York Virtual Private Network account (VPN).

Library faculty members teach information literacy classes. Requests for information literacy classes are arranged via an online form on the Library's homepage. Professors should contact the Library to arrange a class whenever students must write a paper, complete a project, or give an oral presentation. One-on-one research assistance is provided at the Library's Reference Desk.

The Reference Desk is staffed by a librarian whenever the Library is open and classes are in session, and reference is also provided online via a chat box on the Library website. York's library faculty members also provide individual research consultations, arranged by appointment at https://www.york.cuny.edu/library/forms/research-consultation.

Food and drinks (except bottled water) are not allowed in the Library and cell phones and electronic devices should be set on silent or vibrate mode.

The Library is open twelve months per year. The hours during the fall and spring semesters are:

  • Monday to Thursday, 9:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M. on campus

  • Friday, 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. on campus.

  • Saturday, 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. on campus.

  • Sunday, CLOSED

Remote Chat services are also still available, with help from both York and other CUNY librarians. Please check the Library Hours webpage for winter and summer session hours and for schedule changes.