Library Organization

Borrowing Materials

Requesting Item Delivery From One Yale Library To Another

Printing/Scanning Materials

Students have access to all of the libraries on campus, including:

• Bass Library
• Medical Library
• Law Library

For a full list of libraries, their operating hours and locations, click here. Are you looking for a place to study after Yale's main libraries close? Each of the residential colleges at Yale has its own library that function as 24/7 study spaces. The Marx Science and Social Science Library, located on 219 Prospect Street, also offers a study area that is open 24/7.

The books used most often by undergraduates are housed in Bass Library, an underground library located on central campus. Most items are housed in Sterling Memorial library. Many of our libraries are tailored to specific fields, including the Arts Library and the Geology Library, which house materials and library staff that specialize in that field. 

Find out more about the way materials are organized in Yale's libraries here.

Your Yale ID will serve as your library card when check out materials, including books and media equipment (cameras, projectors, etc.). Media equipment is available at the Bass Circulation Desk and must be reserved ahead of time using the CLC reservations app. 

Summer students can check out a maximum of XXXXX books at a time.

To check out materials, you will have to visit one of the self-checkout stations in the library. You must swipe your card to begin the checkout process. You can then scan the barcodes of the books you are borrowing (sometimes the barcodes are located in the front cover or the back cover). These stations give you the option to then print a receipt with the due dates. You can also request to be e-mailed your due dates.

Found great books or DVDs in many Yale libraries (i.e. Sterling, Medical Library, Marx Library) but don't have time to go to each individual library to retrieve them? Yale has a delivery option so you can get all of your materials at one pickup place! Simply do the following:

Steps #1 & 2: Search for the item on Orbis.

Step #3: Open the item's Orbis record. Below the item's listed location (i.e. Bass or LSF), there will be a blue link that reads "Request recall or delivery."

Step #4: Once you click on the link, a new "Place Requests" window will pop up - click on "Request staff search or delivery."

Step #5: A new window will pop up - fill out a short form specifying what specific copy of the item you want. At the bottom of the form, select a pickup location (the drop-down menu for locations is located right above the form "submit" button.)

Step #6: After you hit submit, you are done! You should receive your item on the same day or within two days. Below is a short series of screenshots to walk you through the delivery request process:

Each library is equipped with printers, copiers and scanners. To pay for copies, students must set up BluePrint accounts.