Whether you’re in your first or fifth year at the Graduate Center, you’ve probably formed some kind of relationship with the Graduate Center Library (and if you haven’t, get thee to the first floor of the GC, stat!)  Officially called the Mina Rees Library, it was named in honor of Dr. Mina Rees – a Hunter undergrad – who became the first CUNY Dean of Graduate Studies in 1961. As part of an NYC landmark building, our library even boasts Yelp and Wikipedia entries! It’s a beautiful and peaceful place with plenty of natural light, and in a city that’s not exactly known for promoting serenity, that alone should merit it a visit or two.

 

 

 

 

 

But maybe you’re at the point in your graduate student career where you’re interested less in a library’s aesthetic assets and more in its utility?  If so, the rest of this blog is for you (if you only wanted to see some snapshots of the Graduate Center Library’s stunning interiors, spoiler: they all appear above!) The Graduate Center Library offers a wealth of resources for students, both on and off-site.

 

On Site:

• Guess how many other campus libraries there are in the CUNY system? TWENTY! Through the CUNY CLICS program, you can have books from any of them delivered to you right here at the GC. Check it out.
• Looking for a book that’s not available through CUNY? Interlibrary loan can help you locate it and have it delivered to the GC. Access it here.
• The library offers a wide variety of free workshops every semester to help you make the most of all available resources, including organizing your work and source citations, and using cloud storage. Sign up here.
• If individual support is more your style, you can arrange to meet one-on-one with a librarian trained to provide support in your field of study, and to assist with funding searches. Set up an appointment here.

 Off Site:

• Everyone with a GC log-in has the ability to access academic e-journals and many e-books from any computer. Off-site access to library resources works just like on-site access, except that you’ll be prompted to enter your GC username and password once you choose the database or journal you want.  Just go to this URL and enter what you’re looking for.
• You can also arrange to borrow library materials from NYU, Columbia, and research centers of the NYPL. To learn more about special NYPL privileges for GC students, click here. Borrowing privileges at Columbia and NYU are offered through MaRli. MaRLi is sponsored by the NYPL and requires that you have a current NYPL library card and fill out this application.
• Research grants and funding opportunities from you couch by using the library’s searchable grants and funding page.

 

That’s a lot of services (and books!) to check out, but the Graduate Center Library is continuously adding new resources. Make sure you don’t miss out by keeping an eye on their blog here: https://gclibrary.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

Happy researching!

Jackie Kelly