September 14, 2016

The Libraries is working with regional partners to provide our faculty, students and staff with on-site access and borrowing privileges at a number of local institutions--extending direct user access to hundreds of thousands of print resources at very little cost.

The program launch date and full list of participating college and university libraries is not yet announced, but early commitments show that at least 13 other libraries will extend privileges to Drexel University's faculty, students and staff.

Drexel Libraries committed early and has been a supporter of this initiative since its inception. Drexel University community members will benefit from the addition of on-site access to regional library collections, which may provide opportunities for convenient and timely access to some information resources. Some college and university libraries have policies which restrict the new and most valuable resources from being sent to other libraries through inter-library loan agreements, but on-site visits will provide access to these items. Visiting a participating library might also provide faster access than delivery via inter-library loan, if convenient. This option extends the continuum of access options that the Libraries negotiates for data and information access for the University community.

To participate in this reciprocal program--once launched--Drexel faculty, students and staff should visit the Library Assistance desk at our Center City, Hagerty or Queen Lane libraries to request a personalized sponsor letter. DragonCards are required and staff will confirm Drexel status, prepare the letter and notify the target library. We expect the visit should take no longer than five minutes. Participating institutions will identify and report which university community categories (faculty, students and/or staff) they will grant entrance. Other Drexel affiliations will not be eligible. Like is true with Drexel Libraries, sometimes participating libraries might not admit visitors due to temporary restrictions such as finals week policies.

This program is coordinated by the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI), of which Drexel University Libraries has been a longtime member. Our participation in this consortium has brought additional benefits including discounts on costly electronic resources and explorations in cost and service models providing access to large collections of electronic books and fast delivery of print materials through PALCI's E-ZBorrow service.