For a variety of reasons—health and security concerns, pressure on seating, and staffing limitations—access to certain libraries may be restricted both for Penn and non-Penn people at certain times.
Penn faculty, staff, and students should always carry their Penncards for library access. Many of the libraries on campus will not admit people who cannot show a Penncard at the entrance.
When referring patrons to another library on campus, you should be aware of possible access restrictions. The linked webpage gives a useful summary of access policies. However, Biddle Law and the Biomedical Libraries often find it necessary to introduce different access control at busy times in the semester. It is always advisable to suggest that patrons call ahead to another library. If you are referring a user to another library during the evening or weekend hours, offer to call ahead and check for possible access restrictions.
Penn alumni may obtain a Penn Alumni Card from the Penncard ID Center in the Penn Bookstore at 36th and Walnut. They may also apply for the card by mail. This card allows alumni to enter many of the libraries during evening and weekend hours, but it is important to check individual library access policies at:
For more information on library use by alumni, see “Library Privileges for Visitors.” on the library website at: https://guides.library.upenn.edu/alumniservices
All members of the Penn and Drexel communities may enter each other’s libraries upon presentation of current institutional ID’s.
Penn faculty may request borrowing privileges by presenting their Penncards to Drexel’s Hagerty Library Circulation Department. Drexel’s faculty may apply for a free Library Courtesy Card at Van Pelt Circulation with the presentation of a current ID.
Penn Graduate Students may request free borrowing privileges at Drexel with a letter of introduction signed by the MPA Librarian. Drexel graduate students may apply for a free Library Courtesy Card, upon presentation of Drexel letter, at the Van Pelt Circulation Desk.
Penn Faculty, Staff, and Students may register to borrow from any of the facilities of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Penn faculty, staff, and students have access privileges at the Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore Libraries, upon presentation of their Penn ID. Similarly, members of those institutions have access privileges in the Penn Libraries.
Penn Faculty may request free borrowing privileges at Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges upon presentation of a Penncards. Quaker College faculty may apply for a free Library Courtesy Card at Van Pelt. All must show a current college ID.
RLG (Research Libraries Group) Institutions
Penn is a member of the Research Libraries Group – a consortium of major US research libraries. Faculty, staff, and students of participating institutions have on-site access to each other’s libraries. In some instances (Princeton), it is necessary to call ahead to arrange for access. Temple, Rutgers, Penn State, Princeton, Columbia, and NYU are some of the RLG institutions nearby.
Please refer to the following library policies for usage of electronic resources:
The University of Pennsylvania is a private institution and its libraries are private libraries, maintained to support the teaching and research mission of the University. Use of the Library's electronic resources is generally restricted to currently enrolled students, faculty and staff in order to comply with license agreements for educational use and to ensure access to limited resources. Visitors to the library are invited to use Franklin, the Library's online catalog, and resources that have unrestricted access.
In order to sign on to a database, Penn faculty, staff and students must have a current Penncard or be active in the Penn Community database (i.e. be an active student, associate, faculty or staff member). Patrons with expired library privileges must go to the Penncard center at 36th and Walnut to update their card before their library privileges can be reinstated.
For additional information on Alumni access, please see the “Alumni Access to Libraries” section, below.
If a patron has a valid Penncard but is unable to access online resources, direct them to your supervisor.
Many of the resources listed on the E-Resources pages are subject to restrictions on their access and use.
In order to comply with license agreements for educational use and to ensure access to limited resources, Penn Only E-Resources access is generally limited to current Penn faculty, students and staff. In addition, access is also limited to computers on campus or computers that use the Library Proxy Service. Downloading and electronic redistribution of restricted resources are subject to limitations. For more information regarding Penn's access to electronic resources, see our Access to Electronic Resources Statement.
In addition, the downloading and electronic redistribution of the Penn-only restricted resources are subject to limitations. Downloading an "excessive" portion of a resource, such as an entire journal issue or a complete journal volume, is prohibited. Use of robots or spiders in licensed materials is also generally prohibited. Also forbidden is the redistribution of restricted electronic information to non-subscribers or to non-subscribing institutions. For example, posting material downloaded from these resources to a listserv or using these resources for commercial purposes would contravene our license agreements. Web activity is monitored carefully by database publishers, and violations can result in cancellation of the service.
Please ask MPA staff for clarification of appropriate use and restrictions on a particular database.
All Penn faculty, staff, and students may borrow circulating items from all libraries in the Penn Library system. The University’s Penncard doubles as a library card.
Generally, people who are not members of the Penn community do not have borrowing privileges in any of the libraries. Non-Penn people may apply to purchase a Library Courtesy Card from the Van Pelt Circulation Department. HUP and CHOP staffs are eligible for yellow courtesy cards issued by the Biomedical Library. This entitles them to borrow books from all libraries except the Biddle Law Library.
For more information about the Library Card, see the webpage “Access and Visitor Information” at:
Generally: Library employees should not disclose details of a patron’s record or use of the Library to anyone other than an authorized Library employee. Refer ALL requests for patron or staff information to your supervisors.
The University Libraries are committed to the principle of confidentiality of library records as stated in PA Act 1984-90 section 428. This means that if a patron needs a book that is already loaned out, we cannot tell them the name of the patron that has this book. Patrons trying to identify the current borrower of an item should be informed of this policy.
If a patron urgently needs an item currently on loan, please refer them to your supervisor or a librarian.
Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records (Patriot Act)/Procedures for Library Personnel
The Library’s mission supports open inquiry, the privacy and confidentiality of Library records as defined by the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics, Article III, and the civil rights and liberties guaranteed under the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. In general, the University of Pennsylvania Library’s policy about the confidentiality of circulation records is based on Pennsylvania Statute [24 P.S.:4428] which reads:
4428. Library circulation records
Records related to the circulation of library materials which contain the names or other personally identifying details regarding the users of the State Library or any local library which is established or maintained under any law of the Commonwealth or the library of any university, college or educational institution chartered by the Commonwealth or the library of any public school or branch reading room, deposit station or agency operated in connection therewith, shall be confidential and shall not be made available to anyone except by a court order in a criminal proceeding (emphasis added).
As a consequence of the USA Patriot Act and its progeny, there may be increased requests for information. However, to protect privacy, access to all circulation information and/or records-of-use files are private and confidential. Therefore, Library employees should not disclose details of a patron’s record or use of the Library to anyone other than an authorized Library employee. Refer ALL requests for patron or staff information to your supervisors.
General Statement
The University of Pennsylvania Library (Library) is committed to providing access to services and information online in a manner that respects your privacy. In fact, we subscribe to important privacy protections found in the American Library Association's Code of Ethics.
This statement explains the Library's policy regarding the use of information collected online. It does not apply to information collected by the Library offline.
We collect information from you to try to best meet your needs to access Library information and resources. We collect the minimum amount of information required to process your request. We do not sell personal information to any third party.
We do not share personal information unless required to do so by law. We do use non-identifiable information from each visitor to the Library's Website in order to analyze patterns of use and to improve the site's functionality.
The Information We Collect:
Information Collected and Stored Automatically:
The Library's Website does collect personal information in Web server log files, which include IP addresses, URLs, access times, and in some cases, PennKeys (see Authorization Information below). Server logs are occasionally used for analysis, and then only to track trends such as the number and frequency of visitors to the Library's Website and its individual pages. In the process of analysis, personal information contained in the log is stripped of elements that can reveal an individual's identity. The sole purpose of any analysis derived from logs or similar records is to improve the Library's operations for its clientele.
Information Voluntarily Provided by You:
There are three general situations in which we collect personally identifiable information from you:
The Library requires you to enter your PennKey identification in order to use several services, including the Library's subscription databases and ejournals. This identification allows us to authorize your access to these resources.
You may provide personal information, such as email address or phone number, that will enable us to notify you when certain information, materials or services become available. For example, we ask for personal information to effectively respond to your requests for material from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan or Borrow Direct.
The Library offers, only with your affirmative (opt-in) consent, a service that allows us to track your visits online and offer you information that, based on your visits, we believe you would be interested in. This service enables us to enhance your site visits through the use of personalization tools. Personalization tools remember your subject interests and inform you of new material when you visit the Library Web. You may discontinue these services at any time and we will discard personal information collected as part of this program.
Cookies
Using our authentication system requires us to place a "cookie," on a user's computer. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users and to provide persistent authorization for services.
How We Use Information
The Library only uses your personal information for the specific purpose you authorize and as required by law.
Our Commitment to Data Security
To keep data safe (i.e. prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the correct use of information) we have put in place standard protocols for data security. These protocols include the appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
Other Laws
The Library complies with all relevant laws regarding confidential handling of library records. These include, for example
USA Patriot Act (Pub L. no. 107-56(2001))1
Pennsylvania Statute regarding library circulation records( 24 P.S. 4428 (2002))
University of Pennsylvania Policy on Privacy in the Electronic Environment
These three items, taken together, generally afford privacy protection to the data described above, but also allow for disclosure in the event of authorized law enforcement investigations and limited additional situations.
Links to Other Websites
The Library's Website contains links to other Websites operated by third parties. The Library is not responsible for the privacy practices or policies of such third-party Websites, and this policy does not apply to those sites.
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Reviewed by the University's Chief Privacy Officer and approved by Administrative Council
