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Borrow & Request: What Can I Access?

What Can I Access?

shelf of science books

What's your affiliation?

Caltech students, staff, and faculty

  • See hours for individual library location access
  • Caltech ID card required to unlock doors of any library location
  • Faculty members can checkout 300 items for a period of one calendar year
  • Students can checkout 100 items for a period of one academic term
  • Staff, postdoc, visiting faculty can checkout 200 items for a period of one academic term

Visiting Summer Students, Volunteers & Other Caltech ID Card Holders

  • Caltech ID card required to unlock doors of any library location
  • Can checkout 5 books for a period of 30 days
  • Equipment, rooms, and other technologies are not available for checkout

Family Member of Caltech Faculty, Staff, & Postdocs

JPL Staff

  • Must have JPL Badge
  • Access to Sherman Fairchild Library only 
  • Available hours are 9am-10pm on weekdays and 12pm-8pm on weekends
  • Can checkout 10 books for a period of 30 days
  • Equipment, rooms, and other technologies are not available for checkout

ArtCenter College of Design & City of Hope Professional Staff

  • Must have ArtCenter or CoH ID card
  • Access to Sherman Fairchild Library only 
  • Available hours are 9am-8pm, weekdays only
  • Can checkout 5 books for a period of 30 days
  • Equipment, rooms, and other technologies are not available for checkout

Retired Caltech Staff

  • Must have Retiree ID card
  • Access to Sherman Fairchild Library only 
  • Available hours are 9am-4pm, weekdays only
  • Can checkout 5 books for a period of 30 days
  • Equipment, rooms, and other technologies are not available for checkout

Caltech Associates, Retired JPL Staff, Caltech Alumni, Thirty Meter Telescope Staff, Huntington Library Staff & Fellows, Affiliated College and University Students & Staff

  • Must have government issued ID
  • Access to Sherman Fairchild Library only 
  • Available hours are 9am-4pm, weekdays only
  • No checkout privileges

Guests of Current Caltech ID Card Holders

  • Access to Sherman Fairchild Library only
  • Both visitor and Caltech ID holder must sign in together at Information Desk
  • Caltech members must stay with guest the entire time they are in the library
  • Available hours are 9am-4pm, weekdays only

Government Documents & Archives Users

Other external researchers may have limited access to use the U.S. Government Documents collection and the Caltech Archives & Special Collections. 

Access to the Caltech Archives is Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm by appointment and subject to staff availability. Contact us for more information.

Government Documents are only available on: Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

Friends of the Caltech Library

To support the Friends of the Caltech Library, click here.

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