Community Borrowers

The Library promotes the success of all San Francisco State University students by supporting the curriculum and campus community. We also have a Community Borrowers program for library users who are not SFSU students, staff, or faculty. 

Join or renew

You can join or renew your membership for $50 a year. All program fees directly support Library development projects.  

  1. Make a donation to the Library’s Community Borrowers Program, selecting an amount of $50 or more. 

  2. Take your receipt to the Book Checkout & Pickup Desk to set up your account or confirm your renewal. 

If you prefer to pay using cash or in person, please visit us at the checkout desk first. We will provide a payment slip you can take to the University bursar’s office. 

Annual memberships expire at the end of the anniversary month. We will send a renewal reminder to the email you provide when you register. 

What you get

As a registered Community Borrower, you can check out up to 20 items at a time. Books and audiovisual materials have a 30-day loan period. Print periodicals, such as magazines and unbound journals, have a seven-day loan period. For more details, refer to Borrowing Materials.

To review your checkouts and renew eligible materials, sign into your account.

A limited number of public research stations are available on the first, third, and fourth floors of the Library. These stations provide on-site access to many research databases and the Library’s OneSearch catalog, and you can download and save information to a personal USB drive. Research stations do not provide access to printers, email, or the open web.  

All Library visitors can use the University’s guest wireless network (SFStateGuest; requires registration). Please contact the ITS Service Desk for support. 

Not included

Some of the Library’s services and materials are available only to current SFSU students, staff, and faculty. These are not part of your Community Borrowers membership: 

  • Off-campus or wireless access to online databases, ebooks, and other electronic resources  

  • Interlibrary loan services 

  • Computer and printer access  

Other special borrower programs

You may already qualify for special borrowing privileges at no charge if you belong to one of these groups: 

  • Alumni Association members 

  • Current students from other CSU campuses (with student ID)

  • Faculty from other CSU campuses 

  • Visiting faculty (with photo identification and a current, valid ID from their college or university)

  • College of Professional & Global Education (CPaGE) students without a OneCard 

  • OLLI or ElderCollege participants

  • Registered AmeriCorps volunteers 

Visit the Book Checkout & Pickup Desk or email circmail@sfsu.edu to confirm your eligibility and get your account set up. 

Contact

Please send questions about the Community Borrowers program to circmail@sfsu.edu or call (415) 338-1552.