Services for Visitors

All visitors are eligible for a library card, but there are slightly different requirements for each group of users.

Oswego County educators

• Please bring a completed application to the Penfield Library Check-Out & Reserves Desk to receive your card.
• There is no cost for your library card.
• Your card will be active for one year. We will be happy to renew your card at that time, as long as you are still teaching in Oswego County. Please contact the Check-Out & Reserves Desk to have your card renewed.

Oswego high school students

• Please bring a completed application to the Penfield Library Check-Out & Reserves Desk to receive your card.
• There is no cost for your library card.
• Your card will be active for two months. We will be happy to renew your card at that time, as long as you are still an Oswego high school student. Please contact the Check-Out & Reserves Desk to have your card renewed.

Partners of Oswego faculty & staff

• There is no cost for your library card.
• Please ask your partner to contact the Check-Out & Reserves Desk, to let us know you are interested in a library card. You can then pick up your card at the desk.
• Your card will not expire as long as your partner remains an employee of SUNY Oswego.

Alumni & other visitors

• No application is required, but we will need a photo ID.

• The cost for your library card is $5 per year. You can pay for your library card using our online payment portal:

  PAY ONLINE WITH A CREDIT CARD

• The card is initially issued for three months, and up to 5 items may be checked out simultaneously during this probationary period. If you do not have any overdue or lost materials at the end of this period, we will extend your card's privileges for the remainder of the year. You will be able to check out up to 25 items at once.
• As long as you do not have any overdue or lost materials when your card expires, you will be able to renew your card.

Search Our Collections to find books & other materials.

Not sure where to start? Check out our guide on how to find books.

Feel free to ask us if you need assistance.

Penfield Library's databases can be accessed by all visitors that are on campus. Off-campus access is only available to current students, faculty, and staff, due to vendor licensing restrictions.

However, there are a number of databases that New York state residents can access for free!

The Oswegonian, old yearbooks, and other college publications are available online.

Historical images, works by SUNY Oswego authors, and more are available in OswegoDL.

Please contact or visit Archives & Special Collections if you have questions or are interested in other sources from the college archives, local history materials, rare books or manuscripts, or oral history recordings.

A staff member at the Research Help Desk (located on the 1st floor) can assist you with logging on to one of our desktop computers, if one is available. Please note that these computers are primarily for student use, and computers may not be available during busy times of the semester.

We are not able to give visitors access to the campus wireless network. However, if your visit is sponsored by an academic department or other office on campus, you can ask them to request guest wireless access for you.

If you come from an institution that participates in eduroam, you may connect to the eduroam wireless network here.

The first ten pages are free to print. After that, the cost is $1.00 per 10 pages. If you print a number of pages that is not divisible by 10, we will round up to the nearest dollar. Examples:

• 4 pages = free
• 11 pages = $1.00
• 27 pages = $2.00
• 39 pages = $3.00

You can pay for your printouts here:

PAY ONLINE WITH A CREDIT CARD

Pick up your printouts at the Check-Out & Reserves Desk.

Scanning stations are available in the 1st floor lobby if you need to make digital or physical copies.

Learn more about faxing at Penfield Library.