Faculty

You can help make sure every student has access to their required reading by working with us to add books, streaming media, and interactive learning materials to our course reserves collection this semester. 

Course reserves at the Library are always free for students to access. Print books with one-, two-, or three-day checkout periods and other physical materials are kept at the desk on the first floor. Digital materials can be accessed from anywhere, anytime.

If you adopt a text that is already available in our collection as an ebook, our team will add it to the Course Reserves list automatically; search for your last name or course number to see what we have! You can also search by title in OneSearch.

Depending on cost and availability, we may be able to purchase materials specifically for course reserves — please use our Course Reserves Request form. And if you own copies of any required materials, we would be glad to put them on reserve and make them available for your students to check out! 

Curious about saving your students money by bringing open educational resources (OER) into your classroom? Ask us about Library support for OER.

💡 Students can find a link to our Course Reserves page in the OneSearch box right on our homepage. 

Our librarians teach lessons on research techniques and information literacy topics for in-person, hybrid, and fully online classes. 

You can request an instruction session tailored to your course and research assignment. Special Collections & Archives also offers primary source instruction on a topic of your choice.

To learn more about the options, set up a consultation with Faith Rusk, our instruction coordinator.

Look in the SFSU Canvas Commons for online learning activities from your SFSU Library on fundamental information literacy skills and concepts. Import them into your Canvas course with the click of a button!

From focusing a research question to advanced searching, we have librarian-created modules to support every step of the research process. You can also find modules created by the Labor Archives (specialcollections@sfsu.edu) on primary source research and topics in labor history.

Each module can be used as-is or fully customized to your class: change the title, incorporate examples from your course readings, assign new point values, etc. Our Menu of Canvas Modules explains all the options. Email us if you have any questions or feedback to share!

More Library Resources in Canvas

Your students can find shortcuts to helpful resources on the default Library Resources page in Canvas — make sure it’s included in the menu sidebar for your course! You can also provide direct access to research guides or databases you recommend. 

Much more information here: Accessing Library Resources & Content in Canvas 

Syllabus blurbs

Consider adding the Library to your syllabus! Two short messages are ready to use in Academic Technology’s Syllabus tool: “J. Paul Leonard Library” and “Library Research Help.” You’ll find them under Campus Resources > See More.

Our Special Collections & Archives provide access to a wealth of primary source material on a wide variety of topics. 

The Reading Room on the fourth floor is open to researchers and curious visitors alike, Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and by appointment. 

Drop by the Gallery anytime the Library is open and explore our student-curated exhibition celebrating SFSU history: ON STRIKE! SHUT IT DOWN! SF State Strikes of 1968–69. 

Our team also offers primary source instruction on wide-ranging topics. Work with us to arrange a class visit to support your assignments and student learning outcomes!

Email the Special Collections & Archives team to make an appointment or learn more.

To find films and media for a course, you can check our streaming resources directly. We recommend starting with Docuseek, Academic Videos Online, and Films on Demand. (In Docuseek, check “Show only licensed films” in the filter panel to find films that you and your students can stream instantly.)

You can also search across platforms through OneSearch, or ask us any time you need help finding something. 

Our interlibrary loan system is CSU+, an expanding resource-sharing network that includes institutions across the United States and beyond. 

To place a request, first find what you need in OneSearch, sign in, and use the blue “Get It” box in the item record. If it isn’t listed, fill in this OneSearch Request Form with the citation details. Ask a librarian via chat if you would like realtime help searching or placing a request. 

You can track all your requests by signing into your Library account.

If you have questions or concerns about interlibrary loan, contact Leah Joy.

Our database subscriptions change periodically, and specific resources sometimes move or become unavailable. Please be sure to confirm that any links in your course site or syllabus are still active. 

If you used to be able to access something and the usual way isn’t working, talk to us! We’ll help.

The Library can help you (and your students) explore options for publishing your scholarly work.

Open access without author charges

We have read-and-publish agreements with Wiley, Elsevier, Oxford Press, and American Chemical Society that pay for open-access publishing page charges in many of their journals. Most are accessed with a simple option during the publishing process. 

Learn about current read-and-publish agreements from the Library’s Open Access guide. 

If you have any questions, please contact William Jacobs.

CSU ScholarWorks repository and open journals

Digital Services & Collections is the Library team responsible for preserving the scholarly work of the University. The team also provides support for SFSU’s instance of CSU Open Journals and creates high-fidelity digital surrogates of cultural heritage items from our Special Collections & Archives.

• ScholarWorks is the CSU institutional repository for theses, dissertations, creative works, research and scholarship. Learn more about ScholarWorks and the scope of its contents.
• CSU Open Journals is the systemwide platform for hosting open access journals. Information about starting a journal can be found in the Journal Publishing Guide.

Contact the Digital Services & Collections team to learn more.

Now through Aug. 28, drop by for a guided tour featuring highlights and insights about your Library. Everyone is welcome!

Meet your guide on the first floor at the info and checkout desk. We’ll start by exploring the building and end with tips for finding what you need on our website. 

Hourlong tours will be offered during move-in week and the first week of classes, at a different time each day. We’ll add start times and details to the event page as more tours are scheduled.

Interested in a special tour for your class or group? Need an accommodation, such as ASL–English interpretation, for any scheduled date? Send a request to libraryoutreach@sfsu.edu. 

We now check out calculators, noise-canceling headphones, lap desks, white noise machines, tech chargers, and other gear to support students’ learning. When it's time for a break, they can borrow tabletop games, puzzles, vinyl records, DVDs, Lego sets, and other fun stuff. Browse our checkout menus at the desk for more information! 

This collection is growing through targeted purchases and donations. Send a note to circmail@sfsu.edu if you have ideas about how we can support you and your students with non-book materials! These do not need to be linked to a specific class or assignment, though they could be. We would love your suggestions!

(We still have books, too, of course. Browse the open stacks on the third and fourth floors, or use OneSearch with the “Held in the Library” filter to explore what’s here.)

We are here to help with individual research and teaching support — and more: 

• Email our reference team at ask@sfsu.libanswers.com.
• Book a time to meet with a librarian on campus or online. 
• Work with Special Collections & Archives to discover unique primary sources. 
• For issues with your library account or checkouts, send a note to circmail@sfsu.edu. 
• Get realtime human help whenever you need it via the Ask a Librarian widget on this site. 

• Browse or search our Course Reserves list

• Place a new course reserves request

You can help make sure every student has access to their required reading by working with us to put books, streaming media, and interactive learning materials on reserve at the Library each semester. 

The sooner we receive your requests, the more likely the materials will be available within the first weeks of classes. 

Assigned textbooks that are available as ebooks in the Library’s collection will automatically be listed in Course Reserves; search for your last name or course number to see what we already have!

If you own copies of any required course materials, we welcome temporary donations of these personal items to place on reserve. We will make them available for your students to check out and return them to you after the course ends. 

Curious about bringing open educational resources into your classroom? Email Elliott Scheuer for Library support with OER.

Tip: You and your students can find a link to our Course Reserves page in the OneSearch box on our homepage: library.sfsu.edu. 

SFSU librarians teach lessons on research techniques and information literacy topics for in-person, hybrid, and fully online classes. 

You can request a librarian-led instruction session tailored to your course and research assignment. Special Collections & Archives also offers primary source instruction on a topic of your choice.

To learn more about the options, email libsse@sfsu.edu to set up a consultation, or contact your department’s subject librarian.

Import and adapt our Canvas modules

Look in the SFSU Canvas Commons for online learning activities from our librarians on fundamental information literacy skills and concepts, which you can import into your Canvas course with the click of a button: 

• Developing Questions
• Research Questions & Keywords
• OneSearch Exercise
• Database Research Skills
• Evaluating Sources with ACT UP
• Evaluating Sources with SIFT
• Citation Chaining & Claim Tracing
• Synthesizing Sources
• Using Sources in Your Writing
• In-text Citations (MLA or APA)
• APA Reference List
• COMM 150 Research Tutorial
• Empirical Research

The Labor Archives and Research Center (specialcollections@sfsu.edu) also has modules available in SFSU Canvas Commons that cover topics in labor history and primary source research:

• Oral History Toolkit
• Watsonville Canneries Strike, Primary Sources (intro)
• Watsonville Canneries Strike,1985 – 1987 (comprehensive history)
• What is a Union?
• Filipino American Community and Identity in the Pajaro Valley

More information and a direct link to each module is available in our Menu of Canvas Modules. 

We encourage you to preview the modules and adapt them as you see fit: change the name, personalize examples, edit point values, etc. Send us an email (libsse@sfsu.edu) if you have any questions or feedback to share!

Provide easy access to our resources in Canvas

Your students can find shortcuts to helpful resources on the default Library Resources page in Canvas. You can also add direct links to research guides or databases.

Much more information here: Accessing Library Resources & Content in Canvas 

Get to know our tools for teaching research

Our Teaching Research Toolkit is a collection of lesson-planning resources and activities to help you scaffold the research process throughout your course. 

Unsure where to start? Make an appointment and we can discuss what resources might work well for you.

Add the Library to your syllabus

Consider adding information about the Library to your syllabus. Two short messages are ready to use in Academic Technology’s Syllabus tool: “J. Paul Leonard Library” and “Library Research Help.” You’ll find them under Campus Resources > See More.

This fall, we're debuting new concepts for some spaces in the Library. Expect to see iterations and further changes as we engage with students throughout the year!

Collaboration Studio

You’ll find computers, printers, reservable study rooms, a help desk staffed by Library peer mentors, and large tables to support collaborative work in the Collaboration Studio on the first floor of the Library (formerly the Research Commons). This is a space where you can converse freely and hang out or study with a group. 

The Living Room

The large room attached to the Collaboration Studio is being transformed into a space that promotes holistic wellness with furnishings and activities to help you take a break. 

Stop by and enjoy natural light, comfy armchairs, puzzles, crafts, and books for leisure reading. Leave a suggestion to help us make this space work for you! 

Quiet Study on the ground floor

The computer lab and study rooms near the elevators on the ground floor (formerly the Study Commons) are now designated as a quiet study area. Whispers are fine, but we ask that folks take conversations to a collaborative space on the first through third floors.

At the back of that space, the large room with windows looking onto Holloway Avenue is our first Silent Study Room for focused study. To maintain silence in this shared space, activities such as talking, eating, and using phones or other audio devices are not allowed. 

The fourth floor will also remain a quiet (but not silent) study area.

After a successful first semester, our Family Study Room has moved to a larger space on the third floor: LIB 360E. 

This space is designed for any members of the SFSU campus community who come to the Library with kids. Inside, you’ll find two adult-sized desks, a desktop PC, a child-sized table and chairs, a Pack N Play and an infant seat, comfy armchairs, and books and toys for various ages. 

The door is locked with keypad entry — stop by Book Checkout & Pickup to get the code, and maybe check out a Kid Kit or a Lego set to keep the kids entertained!

The room is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and those who are accompanied by children have priority use of this shared space. Multiple families may use the room together.

Our Kid Kits are filled with a variety of age-appropriate toys, books, and activities that SFSU students, faculty, or staff can check out for up to four hours, Monday through Friday. 

A Lactation Room is located on the second floor in LIB 267; register with Health Promotion & Wellness to get access to all lactation rooms on campus.

More info: Kids & Families

Children’s books swap places with master's theses

Our children’s and young adult books, also known as the Young People's Collection, are moving to the third floor — near the new location of the Family Study Room and no longer on a quiet floor. You can find them on the low bookshelves near the south-facing windows overlooking Holloway Avenue.

SFSU Theses & Dissertations are moving to the fourth floor, near the Faculty & Graduate Reading Room. These bound volumes represent the culminating work of decades of SF State alumni. Recent theses, especially from the past 10 years, are available in digital form in ScholarWorks, the CSU institutional repository.

The relocation of these materials is ongoing but will be completed this fall. 

Throughout the fall semester, we are open seven days a week: 

• Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. 
• Friday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. 
• Saturday and Sunday, noon – 6 p.m. 

That includes all five floors of the SFSU Library — from the study rooms on the ground floor to the bookshelves and tables-with-a-view on the third and fourth floors. 

Our service desks close at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 5 p.m. Friday.

The Special Collections & Archives Reading Room accepts drop-ins and appointments Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The Digital Media Studio & MakerSpace is open five days a week, with longer hours than in spring:

• Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

More information: Library Hours & Holidays

Your Library now provides calculators, noise-canceling headphones, lap desks, white noise machines, and other gear to support students.

When it's time for a break, we also have a growing collection of board games, cards, puzzles, and toys to check out, including a range of Lego sets.

Coming soon: gardening tools, seeds, and more! 

Explore selections from our Library of Things online, or ask at Book Checkout & Pickup for more information. Suggestions are welcome! 

Digital Services & Collections is the Library team responsible for preserving the scholarly work of the University. The team also provides support for SFSU’s instance of Cal State Open Journals and creates high-fidelity digital surrogates of cultural heritage items from our Special Collections & Archives.

• ScholarWorks is the CSU institutional repository for theses, dissertations, creative works, research and scholarship. Learn more about ScholarWorks and the scope of its contents.
• Open Journals Systems (OJS) is the CSU platform for hosting open access journals. Information about starting a journal can be found in the Journal Publishing Guide.

Please contact us to learn more: libdsc@sfsu.edu

Open access publishing fees covered by Oxford University Press agreement

SF State researchers can take advantage of support for publishing in Oxford University Press open access titles.

The California State University system, University of California system, and 30 private academic and research institutions represented by the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium reached a comprehensive four-year transformative open access agreement with Oxford University Press this year.

The read-and-publish agreement provides SFSU students and employees with full-text access to Oxford’s world-leading journals. It also provides discounts and subsidies to publish open access without personally paying out of pocket.

When you have an Oxford article approved for publication, you will receive an email that contains a link to the Online Licensing and Payments System, SciPris. Please follow the instructions in this Author Guide (PDF download) to take advantage of the open access agreement.

For information about our current read-and-publish agreements with other publishers, please see the Library’s Open Access guide. 

The Library's Special Collections & Archives provide access to a wealth of primary source material on a wide variety of topics. The Reading Room is open Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

Our team also offers primary source instruction on wide-ranging topics. Work with us to arrange a class visit to support your assignments and student learning outcomes.

Email specialcollections@sfsu.edu to make an appointment or learn more.

Come see us! Let's talk about what your Library can do for you this fall.

Aug. 19 – Sept. 5: Library 101 tours

Discover essential services, reimagined spaces, and behind-the-scenes highlights with a librarian as your guide. We'll start by exploring the building and end with tips for finding what you need on our website. Hours vary each day so you can choose what works for you. 

Aug. 21: Open House: Welcome to Your Library

Drop in for a cup of coffee or tea with some of the people who make your Library work. We’d love to say hello and explore how our free services and resources can help you achieve your goals this year. 

Sept. 3 – 4: Get to Know Your Local Libraries

Meet librarians from your SFSU Library, the San Francisco Public Library's nearby Merced Branch, and the California State Library's Sutro Library (right here on campus!) and learn about the unique support you can get from each of us. 

More events 

Check our website (or Instagram or Facebook) for more social, cultural, and educational events throughout the semester and year.