Students

We provide accessibility software on our workstations (including Read and Write Gold and JAWS) and other technology in the Joel and Barbara Zelnick Assistive Technology Room 123 in Bird Library.

Through our Alternate Format Service, qualifying individuals can receive accessible version of any materials we own, license or can procure Request, Delivery and Interlibrary Loan.

For additional accessibility services and resources, see the Accessibility page on our website or contact libref@syr.edu.

You can borrow books, compact discs, videos/DVDs, and games. You also have access to remote databases, use of library computers and study rooms. Borrow laptops, calculators, audio video equipment, accessories and more from the service desk.

Academic integrity means that you always acknowledge other people's ideas, information, language, images or creative efforts when incorporating into the work you submit, whether it's written, oral or visual. Resources to help you cite your work are available. Subject librarians can help with a variety of citation formats and can serve as a resource when using management tools including Mendeley, Zotero and Endnote. Turnitin is a plagiarism checker available in Blackboard before submitting final drafts.

If you're a remote or online student and need to access our resources, visit Connecting from Off Campus.

Borrow course materials in print and online reserved by faculty through Course Reserves.

The Libraries has over 150 public computer workstations available with a variety of software pre-installed. The Technology Desk on the 1st floor of Bird Library provides in-person help with poster/large format plotter printing, black and white and color printing, scanning, copying and wireless access. For more information, visit the Printing and Technology page or watch How to Print VIDEO.

Libraries staff can provide you with coursework and research support. We offer Research Guides in more than 250 topics curated by librarians to help you start your research. We provide Citation Help with a variety of styles and the tools to manage them.

Contact your Subject Librarian or stop by the Information Desk on the 1st or 3rd floors of Bird Library, Carnegie Library or King+King Architecture Library.

Helpful research videos include:

• Research Starting Points VIDEO
• Searching with Summon VIDEO
• Finding Journal Articles VIDEO

Digital and Open Scholarship Services

The Libraries can provide information on open access publishing, authors' rights, Syracuse University's institutional repository (SURFACE), digital scholarship methods or assistance with publication agreements. Email dosteam@syr.edu or surface@syr.edu.

Research Data Services

We support research and learning involving quantitative, qualitative, business and spatial data. We can advise you across the entire research lifecycle and can provide instruction in using analysis software. Assistance with Data Management Plans is available to comply with funder mandates. For more information, email datasvcs@syr.edu.

Research Impact Services

We can help you measure the scholarly impact of your research through various means, including searching indexes, examining citations and viewing social media. Profiling sites, such as LinkedIn and Experts@Syracuse, as well as institutional and professional open repositories (like SURFACE) are important tools for increasing impact. For help, email riteam@syr.edu.

The Libraries offers a variety of spaces, whatever your preference. Check out the Spaces page or spaces VIDEO, Reserve a Room or quiet spaces VIDEO for more information. Quiet spaces include the Quiet Reading Room on the lower level of Bird Library and the Reading Room in Carnegie Library.

Link to Request, Delivery and Interlibrary Loan to:

• Borrow research items not available in the SU Libraries from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan.
• Hold physical items from SU Libraries to be picked up at your preferred SU Library location. Pickup location options include Bird Library Lockers (located near Waverly Street entrance), Bird Library Check Out desk, Carnegie Library service desk or King + King Architecture Library service desk.
• Article to Go for electronic delivery of articles and book chapters from both Syracuse University Libraries and other libraries collections. Submit your request for Articles to Go.
• Library to Go for delivery services, including to graduate student department offices.
• Ship items to remote students who live more than 30 miles from campus.

Request an item be pulled and held for you:

1. Find the item in our catalog. Once the item is identified, select “Request this item.”
2. Complete the form including your preferred delivery method, then Submit Request. You will receive a confirmation email that your request is being processed.
3. Once the item is available, you will receive another email with directions about picking the item from your preferred pickup location or having it delivered via UPS to your residence if more than 30 miles from campus.

The Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS) on the lower level of Bird Library provides one-on-one and group tutoring and academic coaching.

For assistance with dissertation writing, review the Research Guides on Dissertations.

If you've misplaced something in Bird Library, you can stop by Room 125 or complete the Lost Property Form.

The Libraries offers a series of workshops each semester at both the Undergraduate and Graduate level.

Libraries' events are posted on the University calendar.

On display on the 1st floor of Bird Library and available to borrow, the New Books area features special thematic selections and SU authors. A limited selection of fiction books is also available to borrow.

Little Free Bird bookshelf (see VIDEO) in Bird Library near Pages Cafe is a free take one and/or leave one area featuring fiction and leisure reading.

Custom-designed instruction sessions can introduce you to methodologies of original research using historical and archival resources in a variety of formats. We provide access to rare printed materials, original manuscripts, photographs, artwork, audio and moving image recordings through Special Collections Research Center on the 6th floor of Bird Library.

Contact scrc@syr.edu for information on collections or access.

Students participating in SUPA have access to the SU Libraries' licensed database and journal resources from off-campus. 

NetID and password are required to access library resources from off-campus. Activate and manage your NetID at SelfServ. Single Sign On (SSO) and Multifactor Authentication (MFA) are also required Please visit the MFA Answers page for detailed instructions.

Project Advance faculty may request instruction for their students. SU librarians can teach students how to locate and use library resources and to conduct research effectively.

Each year since 2004, the Library Associates presents the Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award for the best essay written by a Syracuse University graduate student in the humanities. The award honors Mary Hatch Marshall, a co-founder of the Library Associates (1953), who holds a distinguished place in the College’s history.

The Mary Hatch Marshall Award, which carries a cash prize of $1,000, is intended to honor and help perpetuate her scholarly standards and the generous spirit that characterized her inspirational teaching career, which lasted through her retirement in 1993. After Mary Hatch Marshall's death, Library Associates acknowledged her deep commitment to the organization since its founding. The 100th anniversary of Mary's birth and the 50th anniversary of Library Associates in 2003 provided the opportunity to establish the Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award as a permanent memorial that would connect her passions for literature and the library. Members of Library Associates, Mary's friends and family, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Central New York Community Foundation contributed to the endowment that funds this annual award.

Part-time and full-time graduate students currently enrolled in the following departments and programs are eligible: African-American Studies; English; Art and Music Histories; Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (one each from French, Linguistics, and Spanish); Philosophy; Religion; Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition; and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. Nominations are submitted by each of these programs to a faculty panel selected to judge the essays.

About Mary Hatch Marshall

Mary Hatch Marshall was a native of Scarborough, N.Y., a hamlet in Westchester County, and the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and professor. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College in 1924 and earned her Ph.D. in English from Yale University in 1932.

After conducting research in medieval drama as a Guggenheim Fellow in 1945 and 1946, she joined the faculty of Syracuse University in 1948 as an English professor. Marshall became the first woman at Syracuse to achieve the rank of full professor in the College of Liberal Arts (today the College of Arts and Sciences) and held the Jesse Truesdell Peck Chair in English literature beginning in 1952. She also helped to establish the Honors Program and served as its first director.

She was devoted to the library's essential role in the academic community. "The library was at the center of university life and the center of my life," she said. "I was horrified at the limitations of its usefulness when I arrived at SU and saw the need to increase its budget. I got on the library committee because I was vocal . . . . Chancellor (William P.) Tolley said I harassed him until he built a new library." Bird Library opened in 1972.

Marshall retired from full‑time teaching in 1970 and was granted emeritus status, then promptly began a second career in adult education. She offered courses through the Humanistic Studies Center at University College until 1993. Her love of teaching bloomed into a career that lasted 69 years.

Chancellor Melvin A. Eggers established the Chancellor's Citation for Academic Achievement in 1979 to recognize outstanding contributions in scholarship, research, teaching and creative work. Marshall received a Chancellor's Citation in 1980, one of many honors and awards she was given for her service to the University. In 1956 she received the Post‑Standard Award for Distinguished Service to the Syracuse University Library and in 1989 she became the third recipient of the University's Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

Mary Marshall spent the last months of her life at her home on Sumner Avenue in Syracuse, supported by Hospice of Central New York and a large circle of loving friends and family. She died September 25, 2000, at age 97.

Previous Award Winners

• 2024: Victor Sholl, PhD student, Department of Philosophy. Essay title: " Writing the story of the world: the case for World Narrativism."
• 2023: Aatif Abbas, PhD student, Department of Philosophy. Essay title: " Corporations Choose Differently: A Case for Strict Liability for Business."
• 2022: Andrew Ridgeway, PhD student, Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition. Essay title: “Conspiracy Theories, Jouissance, and the Aristotelian Enthymeme”
• 2021: Lorenza D’Angelo, graduate student, Department of Philosophy. Essay titled: “Emotional Experience and the Senses”
• 2020: David Maynard, graduate student, Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition. Essay title: "The Science Is Not Enough: Evaluating Climate Change Appeals in Light of the Conservative Christian Apocalyptic Frame”
• 2019: Mark Muster, graduate student, English Department. Essay title: “Re-synching Queerness: Futurity in the Ephemeral in Andrew Haigh's Weekend and James Baldwin's Another Country” 
• 2018: Thomas J. West III (T.J.), Ph.D. student, English Department. Essay title: "The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak: Embodied Transcendence and Sacred Spectatorship in The Robe"
• 2017: Sean Clancy, Ph.D. student, Philosophy Department. Essay title: "Psychopaths, Ill-Will, and the Wrong-Making Features of Actions"
• 2016: Jess Pauszek, Ph.D. student, Composition and Cultural Rhetoric in the Writing Program. Essay title: "When Some Members Can’t Write: Building Alternative Educational Spaces From the Ground Up"
• 2015: Sara Swenson, Ph.D. student, Department of Religion. Essay title: "Subject to God: Ecumenical Monasticism and the Making of the Shared Self"
• 2014: Adam Kozaczka, Ph.D. student, English Department. Essay title: "Macbeth and the Britishing of the Scot: Harnessing Shakespeare for Unification Politics from the Eighteenth and into the Nineteenth Century"
• 2013: Andrew Specht, Ph.D. student, Philosophy Department. Essay title: "Rethinking the Neglected Alternative"
• 2012: Jessica Kuskey, doctoral student, English Department. Essay title: "Math and the Mechanical Mind: Charles Babbage, Charles Dickens, and Mental Labor in Little Dorrit"
• 2011: Sarah Barkin, doctoral student, English Department. Essay title: "Between the Museum and Comic Book: Dina Babbitt's Portraits and the Art of Bearing Witness"
• 2010: Joseph W. Denn, graduate student, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. Essay title: "Le Mariage de Figaro comme théâtre et opéra : une comparaison des deux spectacles” (The Marriage of Figaro as Theater and Opera: A Comparison of the Two Works)
• 2009: Jonathan Singleton, doctoral student, English Department. Essay title: "Religion, Radicalism, and Sympathetic Reading in Gaskell's Mary Barton"
• 2008: Jessica Kuskey, doctoral student, English Department. Essay title: "Thomas Carlyle's ‘Pig Philosophy' and Charles Dickens's ‘Pip-Squeaker': The Image of the Pig on in Victorian Economics"
• 2007: Jonathan Singleton, doctoral student, English Department. Essay title: "Religious Nationalism in Uncle Tom's Cabin and the National Era"
• 2006: Cordell M. Waldron, doctoral student, Religion Department. Essay title: "Jeweled Chariots: The Metaphor of Motion in Japanese Buddhist Literature and Practice"
• 2005: Jonathan Singleton, master's student, English Department. Essay title: " ‘Reasonable Christianity' in The Moonstone and at Cawnpore: The Religion of Empire"
• 2004 (two winners): Stephanie Kuhlman, master's student, Fine Arts Department and Amy Robillard, Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Doctoral Program

Every spring the Libraries recognize Libraries student employees. Annually, the Libraries employs over 150 students, both customer-facing and behind the-scenes, who help keep the Libraries running. Each year supervisors are asked to nominate student employees who have demonstrated dedicated service over time and significant contributions which have made a lasting impact on the Libraries. The Libraries recognize these students through the generous support of Kathy and Stanley Walters, Andrew Strait and friends, and other donors.

Previous Award Winners

• 2024: Adira Ramirez, Cole Cassano, Motolani Oladitan, Sarah Schreiber, Alexandria Luck, Maguette Fall, Da Ming Lin, Andrew Kim, Isabela Izaguirre, Katelyn Miller, Kayleigh Ford, Alan Malekar, Zion Smith, Tiffani-Marie Fite, Nia Bellamy, Olivia Russo, Sasha Solomon, Renee Kurie, Aidan Turner, Alejandro Parra
• 2023: Caroline Charles, Chloe Guedalia, Jeremy Gurgis, Rebecca McCall, Kylie McKenna, McKenzie Rybka, Ethan Tyo, Phoebe “Halsey” Van Allen, Paige Brnger, Morgan Collier, Jessica Elliott, Keighley Gentle, Rachel Hogan, Oliver Mack Jr, Yike Tang, Athyang Aman, Sharanya Kanwar, Abrahim Kenneh, Christian Ward
• 2022: Ankush Arora, Nicole Gutierrez, Benjamin Piers, Sophia Rose, Darnelle Stinfort, Alayna Vander Veer, Hyejun Yoo, Jane Abi-Habib, Gabrielle Baumert, Gregory Dachille, Devon Drabick, Taylor Drabick, Lauren Henry, Jason Wilborn, Ifetayo Dudley, Rachael Hickman, Charisma Leach, Ocean Noah, Lauren Quackenbush, Cristy Sanchez, Olivia Stevens
• 2021: Brittany Austin Waters, Maximillian Orgeron, Yasmeen Jones, Oliver Mack Jr., Omolara Akinfemiwa, Gabrielle Frazier, Natalie Edelstein, Lucy Wagner, Brienna Flewelling, Ian Coe, Kobi Wiseman
• 2020: Frankie Kennedy, Maialie Fitzpatrick, Jacqueline Natividad, Cameron Vazquez, May Gelsi, Mina Gurken, Austin Spencer, Isabel McCullough, Ashley Downs, Souradeepta Biswas
• 2019: Amanda Bottorf, Yazmin Curiel-Ruth, Kim Hoffman, Yasmeen Jones, Lucia Baex, Kayla Torres, Minchailou Kanoute, Lauren Merriwether, Pinaz Mehta, Shivanshi Rajendrakumar Bajpai
• 2018: Ellie Abels, Cecelia Dain, Katherine Overhaug, Michael Phillips, Nicolette Ward, Adrienne Canino, Sara Kern, Rafael Taveras, Moctar Toure
• 2017: Jenesis Gayden, Lauren Hoffacker, Ivy Liu, Advin Zhushma, Ashanna Mckenzie, Alexander Emerson, Eryn Stark
• 2016: Alexandra Slavin, Vincent Yuan, Lewis Paulino, Vanessa Amoah, Jennifer Jeffery, Silvana Paradiso, Zachary Schweikert

All Syracuse University student employment opportunities are posted with the application available on Handshake. Preference is given for students awarded a Federal Work Study grant.

The Libraries and the School of Information offer the Information Literacy in Academic Libraries Scholarship for incoming graduate students who are passionate about information literacy and interested in a career as an academic librarian.

Information Literacy Scholars receive a 50% tuition award, 20 hours a week of paid work during the academic year with Syracuse University Libraries and mentoring by Syracuse University librarians with expertise in reference, information literacy instruction, and student learning assessment.

Who is eligible to apply: On-campus M.S. in Library and Information Science applicants.

Apply to be an Information Literacy Scholar through the School of Information.

Located on the 6th floor of Bird Library, the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is responsible for collecting, preserving and providing access to rare books, manuscripts and other primary source materials. SCRC's collections document the history of Syracuse University and our global society through printed materials, manuscripts, photographs, artworks, audio and moving image recordings, University records, and more. Collection areas include activism and social reform, architecture and design, popular culture, plastics, photography, and the history of recorded sound and broadcasting. SCRC may offer internships in a range of areas including processing, public services and reference, instruction, curatorial, and conservation.

SCRC posts all open internships on Handshake (https://experience.syracuse.edu/career/get-hired/handshake/). SCRC internships are unpaid, and interns must be enrolled in a 3-credit internship course.