General Information

• Access and borrowing privileges at Firestone Library are accorded to anyone who presents a valid personal Princeton University campus identification card with photograph. Questions about access and borrowing can be answered at (609) 258-5737 or access@princeton.edu.
• Campus identification cards are issued only by the ID Card Office in New South.
• Access cards and borrowers' cards for persons who are not members of the University community are available under various provisions. All cards except those issued to organizations are nontransferrable; transferred personal cards will be confiscated and the library privileges of the cardholder may be revoked.
• There is a replacement fee for all lost cards. Payment must be for the exact amount due. The Access Office cannot make change.
• The Library reserves the right to refuse to grant access and borrowing privileges to any person who fails to observe library regulations.
• All applicants for access or borrowers' cards must present two forms of identification in the Access Office, one bearing a photograph and one bearing a permanent address. Copies of identification are kept on file in the Access Office.

Access Card

• An access card provides access to Firestone Library, but not borrowing privileges.
• The following categories of library users may obtain access cards through the Access Office at no cost: Princeton alumni; Friends of the Princeton University Library who were members as of July 1981 and have remained members since that time; Users of the depository collections (U.S., U.N., New Jersey, and EU).; Faculty, students, and academic and professional library staff of SHARES participants of the OCLC. (For participating institutions, see: http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/shares/partners/default.htm; Visiting faculty who do not have Princeton University ID cards, or who are not associated with the University, may have up to a total of six months free access, which may be in varying increments of time. After a total of six months, access must be purchased. Visiting faculty must be from a college or university from outside the area and provide faculty identification from their home institution. Other individuals wishing to use the library may obtain access by paying a non-refundable fee.
• Bearers of access cards are not eligible for certain library services such as tracing missing books, borrowing on interlibrary loan, retrieving books that have been received but are not yet on the shelf, and using electronic information resources to which access is limited, by licensing agreement, to members of the Princeton University community.
• Patrons who have an access card will be able to apply for a printing login and password. The login and password will expire on the expiry date of the access card. Printing is limited to 50 sheets a week, 200 sheets a month and shall not exceed 2,100 sheets a year. Printing quotas and passwords will not be automatically renewed on an annual basis. It is the responsibility of the card holder to come to the Access Office and renew as necessary.
• The fee schedule for 2009-2010 is: $30 for one week of access; $60 for one month; and $265 for one year. Nonprofit organizations may purchase on a non-refundable basis up to five transferable access cards, at $525 per card. The non-profit organization is responsible for its cards and the individuals who use them.

Borrower's Card

• A borrower's card provides both access and borrowing privileges for a non-refundable fee. Faculty and students from the Institute for Advanced Study and the Princeton Theological Seminary may obtain cards without a fee.
• The bearer of a borrower's card is not eligible for certain library services such as borrowing reserve books, using interlibrary loan, or using electronic information resources to which access is limited, by licensing agreement, to members of the Princeton University community. If overdue fines exceed $20, borrowing privileges are suspended until payment is made.
• Patrons who have a borrower’s card will be able to apply for a printing login and password. The login and password will expire on the expiry date of the card. Printing is limited to 50 sheets a week, 200 sheets a month and shall not exceed 2,100 sheets a year. Printing quotas and passwords will not be automatically renewed on an annual basis. It is the responsibility of the card holder to come to the Access Office and renew as necessary.
• The fee for an individual card is $650 for 2009-2010, with the following exceptions:
  • Princeton alumni may obtain a borrower's card at one-half the usual fee.
  • Friends of the Princeton University Library who have been members since July 1981 may obtain a borrower's card at one-half the usual fee.
  • Continuing, non-registered graduate students of Princeton University may obtain a borrower's card at one-half the usual fee.
  • Residents of Middlesex, Mercer, and Somerset counties may purchase a prorated borrower's card.
  • Organizations may purchase transferable borrowers' cards. Two cards are issued for a fee of $2,650. Additional cards may be purchased at $1200 each. Organizational borrowers' cards cannot be prorated.

Questions about access and borrowing can be answered in the Access Office:

April Miller, Head
Firestone, 1-9-C
609.258.5737 (please call in advance of your visit)
email: access@princeton.edu

Hours during the Academic Year:

Monday-Friday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m. - 12 noon and 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Hours during the Summer:

Monday-Friday: from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Holiday hours vary.