Access to Academic Libraries

The college encourages students to investigate the holdings of other academic libraries in their local communities as a source of supplemental print books and journals to support their studies. Students who wish to locate specific materials not available in the Online Library can ask a librarian (www.esc.edu/AskaLibrarian) for help, or find more information at our WorldCat (www.esc.edu/Worldcat) and SUNY Open Access Program (www.esc.edu/OpenAccess) pages.

Through the SUNY Open Access Program, Empire State College students and employees have access to the libraries of SUNY's two and four-year colleges, and university centers. For those who live in New York City, a similar agreement is in place with the City University of New York (CUNY) library system. The CUNY agreement covers all library facilities except the Graduate Center.

To check out materials from these libraries, Empire State College students and employees must present an Empire State College photo ID card with a valid expiration date and Empire State College-ID number. This is the only proof of enrollment or affiliation that will be accepted at these libraries. All Empire State College borrowers agree to obey all rules, regulations and policies that are established by the lending library. In addition to overdue fines, borrowers who have lost or not returned library materials also will be charged processing and/or replacement fees. Students with outstanding fines to a SUNY or CUNY library have a hold placed on their Empire State College student account and are not permitted to register, obtain transcripts or be cleared for graduation.