Library Services

914.395.2474

The Esther Raushenbush Library is essential to academic life at Sarah Lawrence College. The library‘s diverse resources have always supported the school’s academic mission, and its congenial atmosphere and open floor plan allow for both independent and group study.

The library has approximately 800,000 hard-copy books, e-books, government documents, microforms, audiocassettes, DVDs, and videocassettes and has more than 4,000 serials in hard-copy format. In addition, the library offers access to 200 full-text and citation online databases, providing electronic access to more than 700,000 serials and over 150,000 films and other media.

The library is committed to protecting the privacy of its users. Our policies conform to the code of ethics of the American Library Association that states, in part, that “we must protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired, or transmitted.”

• Circulation information is confidential; however, records are available to staff over a period of time for normal circulation workflow purposes.
• Faculty and staff records are removed manually when notice is received that those individuals are no longer associated with the College.

Students must present their own Sarah Lawrence College ID card to check out library materials. The loan period for books held in the circulating collection is four weeks; however, items may be recalled at any time after a one-week period and must be returned by the new due date indicated. Books may be renewed online for an additional four-week period up to three times. Periodicals, reference books, and material in special collections, faculty collections, and the archives do not circulate.

The main library reserve collection is maintained as a closed collection, and books circulate for a limited time in order to provide equal access to required course materials for all students. In addition, the library has a large collection of electronic reserves. Most physical reserve items circulate for three hours during the day and may also be borrowed for overnight use. Items borrowed for overnight use are due back one hour after the morning opening. Please keep in mind that overdue reserve items are fined at the rate of $0.50 an hour, and failure to return overdue reserves or recalls is a serious offense; the penalties for noncompliance are substantial and may extend to loss of library privileges.

Stealing or defacing library materials or otherwise rendering them inaccessible to others is a violation of the College’s Policy on Academic Integrity and may be reported to the Office of the Dean of Studies and Student Life.

Items borrowed through interlibrary loan have due dates that average one month in length, as determined by the lending libraries. Overdue interlibrary loan items are a serious matter, however, as it risks us losing the ability to request more items from that same library in the future.

Individual research consultations, available by appointment, provide an opportunity for an individual student to meet with a research services librarian to discuss library resources and research strategies for conference and coursework. Students may schedule an appointment via a link on the library home page or by telephone or email.

The library is dedicated to providing access to all materials. If you need assistance to access physical materials, please contact any member of the library staff. If you have additional accessibility needs related to our materials, please contact the Office of Access and Disability Services.