Checking out Swem Library Materials
Swem Library's materials are available to all patrons for use in the library.
However, to ensure that William and Mary faculty, staff, and students have the resources they need for research and study, the privilege to check out materials is limited to the options outlined on this page.
If you are not affiliated with William and Mary and if you need to check out only a few items, you might consider asking your public library or own academic or institution's library to borrow the items through their interlibrary loan services, rather than obtain a Swem Library card.
For patrons who are not current W&M students, staff, or faculty, and who wish to apply for a library card, please note that:
- the library card gives you only the privilege to borrow books, government documents, music scores, and music recordings. Up to 10 books, documents, or music scores may be checked out concurrently, for 30 days and one renewal. Music recordings (from the Music Library) may be checked out only for 3 days, with one renewal. Journals, videos, laptops, and all other types of materials do not circulate to non-William & Mary patrons.
- a Swem Library card allows you to check out materials at Swem Library and it's branches (Music, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics) only, and does not grant you lending privileges at W&M's Law, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, education (Learning Resource Center), and business (Professional Resource Center) libraries.
- access to our online databases is available only in Swem Library, not from off-campus.
- your own public or academic/institutional library is where you would continue to place interlibrary loan requests. Swem Library's Interlibrary Loan Department will lend to these other libraries, but places requests only for W&M students, staff, and faculty.
- to apply for a Swem Library card, you must be present, present a picture ID with current address, and, for most of the categories listed below, provide proof of current membership.
- for your privacy and protection, we require that you present your library card each time that you check out materials.
Types of Library Cards for Visitors
Free Library Cards
The following categories of patrons may receive free Swem Library cards by presenting a picture ID with their current address and proof of current membership in one of the following categories. For some of these categories, Swem has been provided with a list of eligible members. Swem library cards are issued for one year or for the length of the special program, whichever is less. Cards can be renewed with proof of continuing current membership in the category.
- Archaeological
Research Center (William & Mary).
- Association
for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities' Jamestown Rediscovery
Archaeological Project, research staff.
- Auditing
students (at William & Mary). Must document a paid registration
statement from William & Mary's Registrar's Office.
- Board of
Visitors (William & Mary), current members.
- Business
School's Executive Partners volunteers.
- Campus Ministers (local clergy assigned to work with W&M students)
- Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation, employees.
- Government
Documents borrowers (patrons who wish to check out only
government documents).
- Jamestown
Rediscovery Archaeological Project, research staff.
- Jamestown-Yorktown
Foundation, research staff.
- Jefferson
Lab. See Thomas Jefferson Electronic Beam Accelerator Lab.
- Muscarelle
Museum docents.
- National
Center for State Courts, research staff.
- Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, all staff.
- PLUS Program, a summer
program for selected incoming William & Mary freshmen.
- President's
Council members (William & Mary donors).
- Reciprocal
Faculty Borrowing Program. Faculty from other colleges who have
obtained an ID from the Academic Research Libraries in OCLC Reciprocal
Faculty Borrowing Program.
- REU (Research
Experience for Undergraduates) Summer Program. Selected undergraduates
from other universities, studying one of several sciences or social
sciences.
- Reves Center
for International Studies, exchange scholars.
- Richard Bland
College faculty, staff, and students. Richard Bland College is
a two-year college in Petersburg, Virginia, and part of the William
& Mary system.
- St. Leo's
College, students who have obtained the St. Leo's Swem Library
cards from their own libraries.
- Shakespeare
Festival: see Virginia Shakespeare Festival.
- Sir Francis Nicholson Society members (Swem Library donors).
- Sir Robert
Boyle Society members (William & Mary donors).
- Swem Library retired staff.
- Thesis/Dissertation
students: W&M graduate students currently writing their master's
theses or dissertations but not enrolled in courses.
- Thomas Jefferson
National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), employees.
- Tidewater
Consortium faculty, staff, and students. Note: only Swem Library and its branches (Music, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics) offer borrowing privileges to Tidewater Consortium faculty, staff, and students. W&M's Law, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, education (Learning Resources Center), and business (Professional Resource Center) libraries do not offer Tidewater Consortium borrowing privileges. First step: visit the library at your own institution and obtain
a signed form and card before visiting Swem Library. Bring the
form, card, and a picture ID that shows your current address.
Faculty and staff receive annual cards; students receive semester
cards. For a list of member schools, click here: Virginia
Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education.
- Unclassified
students (at William & Mary). Must document a paid registration
statement from William & Mary's Registrar's Office.
- Virginia
Shakespeare Festival, employees.
- Visiting faculty or research fellows at William & Mary. Please ask your sponsor (W&M department head) to complete the W&M User ID Request Form and indicate library privileges. Or, bring
a letter from the W&M department head, identifying you, the department,
and the length of your tenure at W&M.
- Volunteers
at William and Mary. Please bring a letter from the department
where you perform your volunteer work.
- William and
Mary alumni.
- William and
Mary faculty's spouses, partners, and children.
- William and
Mary's Board of Visitors, President's Council, Sir Robert
Boyle Society, and Sir Francis Nicholson Society. Please bring the card or letter that identifies your membership.
- Williamsburg
Regional Library, current employees. Please bring your employee
ID.
Library Cards with a Fee
- Virginia Teachers and School Administrators, including public and private schools as well as home school teachers, for grades K-12
Please present either a current pay stub, memo from the school principal, or letter from Virginia Department of Education indicating home school authorization, plus a picture ID with current address. Annual $10.00 card. Valid for 12 months from date of application.
- Christopher Wren Association Associate Members
Please present either your current Christopher Wren Association badge or letter acknowledging your membership, plus a picture ID with current address. Annual $50.00 card (couples may each get a card for one $50.00 fee if both are CWA members). Valid for 12 months from date of application.
- Friends of the Library
This is the library card option for patrons who do not qualify for any of the other categories. If during the past 12 months you have donated $100.00 or more to the Swem Library, please present the letter acknowledging that donation. Or you may join the Friends of the Library by making your donation at Swem Library's Circulation Desk. A picture ID with current address is also required. Annual $100.00 card (couples may each get a card for one $100.00 fee). Valid for 12 months from date of application.
Other Uses
Although some older Swem Library cards were able to also be used as debit cards for photocopying and purchasing snacks from campus vending machines, cards issued in 2005 and later serve only as library cards. Please ask Circulation staff for more information.
"My Account"
Library patrons may:
- see a list of items currently checked out to their library card
- renew eligible items
- change their library PIN number.
Please visit Swem Library's home page and click on My Account for more information.
Reminders
Swem Library sends email reminders of materials coming due and instructions on how to renew. If you would like to receive these notices, please provide us with your email address.
