Library Services for Faculty and Staff Members

Library Services Mission Statement

Library Locations
Holy Family University's main library is on the Northeast Philadelphia campus across from the Education Technology Center. Holy Family also has a branch library, the Learning Resource Center (LRC), on the first floor of the Newtown campus.

Our librarians will visit other Holy Family locations such as the Woodhaven campus or St. Mary's Hospital in order to offer library instruction, but due to space and staffing constraints we cannot maintain permanent library facilities in these locations. We invite faculty, staff, and students at other locations to use whichever library is closer to them: for instance, Woodhaven faculty might wish to use our Northeast campus Library and St. Mary's faculty might use the Newtown LRC.

Borrowing Materials
Like students, all full-time and part-time faculty and staff members must use a current Holy Family ID to borrow materials.

Circulating materials include books, DVDs, videocassettes, audiocassettes, teacher's kits, K-12 textbooks, and other K-12 curriculum materials. Reference materials and journals are not available for circulation. Faculty and staff may have circulating materials sent from one campus to the other (see "Intercampus and Interlibrary Loan" below). Materials borrowed from either the Library or LRC may be returned at either location.

The Library and LRC will deliver items for faculty and staff to the Woodhaven campus, but we do not offer delivery service to students. 

Electronic Databases
The Library and LRC make available a number of Internet-accessible research databases.

Usernames and passwords are required when accessing databases from outside the college network. The permanent username for databases is holyfamily (for all databases except Hoover’s, for which the username is library@holyfamily.edu). The password, which is the same for all databases, is changed at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters and is available from Library or LRC staff. Two databases, JSTOR and FirstSearch, are not accessible off campus.

Reserve Items and Copyright Policy
Faculty and facilitators may place circulating materials from the Library or LRC on reserve at either location for their classes. Personal materials may also be placed on reserve. All copies of articles must be supplied. Please bring materials to the Library or LRC circulation desk and fill out a reserve form at least four days before students will begin using the materials.

Please be sure to adhere to the University’s copyright policy as stated in section 2.9 of the University Policy Manual, volume II. In brief:

  1. Multiple copies of a paper or online article may not be copied or printed out by a single person for the whole class's use, whether from a reserve article or as part of a predetermined classroom assignment.
  2. Use of the same copies for reserve by the same teacher may not be repeated semester to semester. If a faculty member wishes to use the same articles in more than one semester, he or she must obtain permission from the copyright holder or else purchase the article outright.
  3. Copies may not be made from “consumable” works such as workbooks, exam sheets, or standardized test books, unless permission is expressly given.
  4. Not more than one article or two excerpts by the same author may be copied for reserve use by a single class without permission, nor more than three excerpts from the same anthology or periodical volume, except for current news articles.
  5. Copies may only be used or put on reserve for one course (and multiple sections of that course).

Bringing Classes to Visit or Work in the Library or LRC
Please call extension 3316 (for the Northeast campus Library) or extension 4010 (for the Newtown LRC) at least one week before bringing a class, so we can coordinate the times for visiting classes and comfortably accommodate your students. Please note that unfortunately, we have no private meeting rooms for class or small group use.

When Planning Assignments…
We encourage faculty to consult with librarians anytime they would like help in planning assignments that will make the fullest use of library resources. We also ask faculty to be aware of the environment and not ask students, unless it is truly necessary, to bring handouts of their papers or PowerPoint slides for all the other students in the class.

Scheduling Library Instruction
Faculty members are welcome to request an instruction session for any class on use of the Library or LRC resources and facilities. Instruction sessions may be held in an available classroom or computer lab at any campus location, or in the Library or LRC, according to the faculty member's preference. Instruction will be tailored to the subject matter as requested. Please use our online form or contact the reference librarians at extension 3316 (Northeast campus) or extension 4010 (Newtown campus) at least 10 days in advance of the desired instruction date. We strongly encourage faculty members to be present for Library and LRC instruction sessions.

Intercampus and Interlibrary Loan
Faculty and staff may borrow any circulating materials owned by either the Library or LRC. If you wish to have library materials sent from one campus to another, please fill out our online form. Intercampus delivery takes from one to two weekdays. 

Books and journal articles not available from either the Northeast campus Library or the Newtown LRC may be obtained via interlibrary loan. Please fill out the form mentioned above. About two weeks should be allowed from the time requests are placed until materials will be available (though they often come much sooner).

Videotapes, DVDs, and entire issues of journals are generally not available from other libraries. If desired, our staff can help identify other area libraries that own a desired title.

Please call extension 3584 (Northeast campus) or extension 4010 (Newtown campus) for further information on Interlibrary and Intercampus Loan.

"1 = 8" and More: Your ID Offers Access to Academic Libraries Across the Region
Because of Holy Family's participation in the Southeast Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education (SEPCHE), you have access using your Holy Family ID to the libraries of the seven other SEPCHE colleges and universities. By showing your ID you can borrow materials, use computers, and take advantage of all other library resources and services (except interlibrary loan, which you may request only at Holy Family itself).

Participating SEPCHE libraries include Landman Library at Arcadia University, Holy Spirit Library at Cabrini College, Logue Library at Chestnut Hill College, Lourdes Library at Gwynedd-Mercy College, Gabriele Library at Immaculata University, Neumann College Library, and the Gertrude Kistler Memorial Library at Rosemont College. For more information visit the SEPCHE Libraries page.

Holy Family’s Library also has a partnership with the libraries of the Tri-State College Library Cooperative (TCLC). To borrow materials from any of over 40 area academic libraries, including those at Villanova, St. Joseph’s University, Widener, and Philadelphia University, ask for a letter of introduction at the Circulation Desk of the Library or LRC. You will need to show the letter along with your Holy Family ID when you arrive at the designated library.

Requesting New Titles for Purchase
We appreciate and encourage faculty and staff assistance in developing our collections. Use our online form to make suggestions for purchase, or you may send us order cards or marked catalog pages. Please include your name and contact information.

We do our best to purchase all materials suggested by faculty and staff unless the requested titles exceed our budget limits or do not fit our collection parameters. Our general rule is to purchase only materials which will support the classes taught at Holy Family, as well as certain materials to support related needs of the university community (job-market resources, local atlases, and so forth).

Making Donations
Occasionally people wish to contribute used books, journals, or other materials to the Library or LRC. We are glad to accept such materials on the understanding that their disposition is determined by the Library and LRC staff. Current materials that are in good condition, meet our collection parameters, and are not already duplicated in our collections, will be added to the Library or LRC. Other materials may be re-gifted to other libraries, sold in the Library's used book sale, or be discarded if in poor condition.

Audio-Visual Needs
Please note: the A-V Services department is no longer under the administration of the Library. Call extension 3402 for help with audiovisual services, or submit an equipment request using the online form.

Please feel free to call or email with your questions and comments at any time!
NEP Library: 267-341-3315, Director Lori Schwabenbauer: Lschwaben@holyfamily.edu
Newtown LRC: 267-341-4010, Coordinator Katherine Ruppel: kruppel@holyfamily.edu
You can also submit questions online.