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Parents and Family Members' Guide to the SU Libraries: The Basics

This guide is intended to help parents and other family members of SU students get to know what the Libraries have to offer their students.

Facilities

We have several library facilities:

  • Guerrieri Academic Commons: The GAC (or AC) is our main library. It is in the center of campus. Here students will find most of the library staff, books and other collections, a variety of classrooms and technology, and spaces for individual and group study. For more detailed information about the GAC, look under the Where to Study in the GAC tab.
  • Dr. Ernie Bond Curriculum Resource Center (CRC): This library is in Conway Hall, Room 226. It is a pleasant, welcoming space primarily serving students in the Seidel School of Education but all SU students are welcome. The collection largely consists of juvenile literature in support of our future teachers. There also is an excellent puppet collection. The CRC also has a classroom and a lovely, quiet reading room in addition to spaces for group work. You can read more about it at the CRC website and see an introductory video.
  • Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture:  The Nabb Center is SU’s special collections and university archives as well as being a Delmarva research center. Located on the fourth floor of the GAC, it has an expansive reading room with beautiful views to the south, a large classroom, extensive exhibit spaces, and state-of-the-art storage facilities for archives and artifacts. It hosts many class visits and also welcomes individual student researchers. You can read more about it at the Nabb Center website.

Hours

For the most up-to-date hours for the GAC and units of the SU Libraries, please visit our website.

Borrowing

For detailed information about what can be borrowed and for how long as well as for our borrowing policies, please see our borrowing materials page.

We do not have late fines for regular books that are checked out, but if books have not been returned 30 days after their due date, they are declared lost, and there is a heavy fine for that. There are late fines for other items, so students should pay close attention to due dates/times. 

BORROWING FROM THE SU LIBRARIES: Students can borrow materials that circulate from the SU Libraries by presenting their SU ID card at the Library Service Desk on the first floor of the GAC for materials housed in the GAC and at the CRC Service Desk in the CRC for materials housed in the CRC. They also can download the SU Libraries App from the App Store or Google Play and use an electronic version of their card through the App to borrow materials.

BORROWING FROM OTHER LIBRARIES: Students can borrow from other libraries in two ways:

1. Direct Borrowing: The SU Libraries are part of a library consortium known as USMAI, which stands for the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions, which together own more than 8 million books. Books from all these libraries are included in our online catalog and can be requested by clicking the "Request Item" button in the search results and following the instructions. The requested item will be delivered to the Library Service Desk on the first floor of the GAC, where it can be checked out and returned.

2. Interlibrary Loan: Students may request books not available at SU or in the USMAI consortium through a service called Interlibrary Loan or ILL (pronounced eye-ell-ell) for short. In the search results, under "Libraries Worldwide," there is a button, "Request item through Interlibrary Loan"--clicking that button will take a student to the ILL pages to enter the request. Students also may request items directly through their ILL account (see the Accounts page), which they will be prompted to create the first time they use ILL (it's very easy!). The ILL staff will then try to find another library that will lend the book to our student; the book will be shipped to us and will be available at the Library Service Desk in the GAC to check out and return. For distance students, we will ship the book to their home address.  

Food

We do allow food and drink in most areas of the GAC.  In fact, we even have food service in the building!  Here are the options:

1. Chesapeake Coffee Roasters: This coffee shop is found on the first floor of the GAC. See the CCR website for details.

2. Hungry Minds Express: This eatery has a grill for hot sandwiches and paninis as well as other food items for sale. See the Hungry Minds website for details.

3. Vending machines: These are on the second floor. The second floor of the café has vending machines, which have bottled drinks and salty/sweet items. At the other end of the second floor, by the women's restroom, there is one vending machine with salty/sweet items.

Restrooms

The GAC is equipped with a bountiful supply of restrooms. On each floor, there are large restrooms for men on the northeast side of the central core and for women on the southeast side of the central core. The second floor of the café as two all-gender individual restrooms. There are baby-changing stations in the two all-gender restrooms on the second floor of the café and in the far stalls of the first-floor men's and women's restrooms.

Lactation Room

There is a small "Lactation Room" on the first floor opposite the women's restroom near the Rte. 13 entrance to the GAC. Equipped with a soft chair and a sink, this private room provides quiet space for mothers who need to breastfeed their babies or pump milk.