Borrowing Materials

Current faculty, staff, and students, alumni, and college retirees are welcome to visit the College Library. Guests will need a visitor badge, issued by security at one of the college's entrances. 

All faculty, staff, and students may borrow up to eight (8) items with a current and valid Community College of Philadelphia ID card.

The loan period is four (4) weeks. Reserve and reference materials may be used in the Library only. Books may be renewed twice online using your online library account or over the telephone. 

Students can view their Library records using My Library Account. 

Alumni and retirees may not check-out items, but are welcome to use library resources (excluding databases) for research within the Library.

Overdue and Lost Item Procedure 

The Community College of Philadelphia Library DOES NOT charge fines for overdue items. However, the Community College of Philadelphia DOES charge for the replacement cost of lost or damaged items.

Books from the library’s circulating collection have a 4-week loan period, and can be renewed for two additional 4-week periods if not already overdue or on hold for another user.  We ask that users return their materials on time in order to allow others the opportunity to review or borrow the materials. The library eliminated overdue fines beginning in 2018.  However, this also changes how overdue items are handled. The library sends notices to help you manage the materials you’ve checked out.  The user is responsible for returning materials on time, whether or not notices were received. The library recommends checking your library account at least once a month as servers can crash, notices can end up in spam folders or get deleted by mistake, or people just forget they borrowed items. Please note that users with overdue items may be blocked from checking out additional materials, including reserve materials.

The library sends overdue notices for most materials in the following timeframes:

• • A courtesy notice is emailed 5 days before the due date.
  • The first overdue notice is emailed on the 1st day after the due date.
  • The second overdue notice is emailed on the 7th day after the due date.
  • The third overdue notice is emailed on the 14th day after the due date.
  • The fourth overdue notice is emailed on the 21st day after the due date.
  • A book is considered “lost” on the 30th day after the due date and a lost book notice is emailed.

Lost Items

The library’s automated system will declare an item lost 30 days after the due date. Borrowers have ten days to make arrangements to purchase a replacement copy or be prepared to be billed by the Bursar’s Office. If you believe you've already returned the lost book to the library, you may request at the Circulation Desk that a search be initiated for the book. The library staff will search for the book for ten days. If the book is not found after ten days of searching, you will be responsible for replacing the item or paying a replacement fee at the Bursar’s Office.

Replacement Copies

Borrowers who have a lost book may be able to provide a replacement copy of the exact same book in new or near new condition (same ISBN) in lieu of paying the replacement cost. Arrangements should be made with the Access Services Librarian before a replacement copy is ordered. If it is not, the borrower will be held liable for the replacement cost and will be notified of that decision.

Payment at the Bursar’s Office

Amounts owed for lost materials, and not replaced by the borrower, will be transferred to the student’s account which includes tuition and other College fees.  Unpaid amounts which accumulate to totals designated by the Bursar’s Office may result in a “hold” on the account which could prevent registration for classes, graduation, or receiving transcripts.

Damaged Items

Users should return items to the library in the same condition they were in when checked out. Damage incurred while using items may result in the patron being held financially responsible.  Depending upon the severity of the damage, the same obligations of the borrower not above in Lost Books will apply.  Examples of item damage include (but are not limited to):

• Writing, underlining, or highlighting
• Self-adhesive notes (Post-it® type notes)
• Water damage
• Pet damage
• Environmental damage (smoke, perfume, mildew, mold)
• Damaged covers, ripped or missing pages

General Guide to the Main Campus Library

Collections

More than 37,000 books, and over 80 serial titles, are available to the College community. Citation databases, full text article citation databases, and electronic journals are also available.

Telephone Numbers

Information/reference: 215-751-8394
Circulation/reserves: 215-751-8383 or 8397
Book ordering: 215-751-8399 or 8401
Periodicals: 215-751-8388
Interlibrary Loan: 215-751-8403
Department Head: 215-751-8397
Instruction: 215-751-6352
Archives: 215-751-8397
Reserves: 215-751-8397

Interlibrary Loan

Books and journal articles not owned by the Library may be requested from other libraries. These Interlibrary Loan requests may take one 1-3 weeks. Textbooks cannot be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Submit requests online via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Intralibrary Loan

Books and journal articles not located at the Main Campus Library may be requested from a Regional Center. These intralibrary loan requests may take 3-5 working days. Requests are made through Summon Search.

Reserves/Periodicals

All magazines, scholarly journals and newspapers, and materials placed on reserve for a course may be used in the Library only. These materials may be obtained from circulation with a current valid College photo ID.

Limits:   textbooks – 2 books; restrictions on selected titles
periodicals – 4 issues per transaction

Reference Service

Library faculty are available to:

• Answer reference questions and provide research assistance
• Assist patrons in the use of print and electronic resources
• Provide collection development and library instruction

Library instruction

Library faculty offer classes on basic library skills, search strategies, and database searching techniques. Classes may be tailored to a specific course and assignment. Faculty may arrange for these instruction sessions by submitting the online form.

Online catalog

Summon Search is an internet-based discovery system, and includes records for books in the college library collection, as well as course materials placed on reserves. Location, call number (the address of the book) and availability status are indicated for each record. Journal titles are included with information on which issues the Library owns.

Electronic Resources

The Library subscribes to a number of online databases that provide citations to, or the full text of, articles. These are available on campus, or through MyCCP, and include:

• CQ Researcher – Current issues
• EBSCOhost – Comprehensive, multi-Subject articles and citations
• Ethnic Newswatch – Articles from multi-Ethnic sources
• Issues & Controversies – Pros and cons of an issue
• JSTOR - Archive of back files of full text scholarly journal articles
• Literature Resource Center – Literature reference database
• New York Times – Full text from 1995
• Opposing Viewpoints – Presents both sides of a current issue
• Philadelphia Inquirer – Full text from 1983
• PsycARTICLES – Full text psychology related articles

Copiers and Scanners

Photocopiers

Photocopiers are available, and require the use of the Lion Card (make sure funds have been loaded in advance).

Scanner

Two scanners are available and use is limited to 15 minutes. Scan can be saved to a USB drive or sent to email.

Group Study Rooms

The Library is a designated study area. Group study rooms are available for 2-6 people.

Eating, Drinking & Distractions

The College is a smoke-free environment.

• Permitted
  • Drinking containers with lids
  • Limited cell phone use (short, quiet conversations), except in the designated "Quiet Areas"
• Prohibited
  • Eating