Faculty Services

Faculty, welcome to CRC Library! The Library collaborates with faculty to support the research and information needs of programs and disciplines. We offer a variety of services to support our faculty including:

Services & Resources

Library Collection

The CRC Library has more than 60,000 books, videos, and DVDs, and more than 80 print periodical subscriptions. The CRC Library also provides access over 40 subscription-based online research databases, which contain electronic versions of research reports; journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; books; and dictionary and encyclopedia entries. To find the research materials you need, access our online library catalog and research databases.

Note: Off-campus access to the online research databases and E-Books, is available after activating your library account at the Library's Circulation Desk. You will use your W + Employee ID number and unified password to remotely access our online research databases and E-Books.

Borrowing Library Materials

Your Employee ID card also acts as your library card and can be used to check out library material once it has been activated at the library's Circulation Desk.

Faculty who borrow library materials do so under the existing library checkout policies and terms (see Borrowing Policies for full details). Exceptions to our borrowing limits may be made on a case by case basis; however, in absence of such an exception the existing checkout terms strictly apply. Faculty members should monitor their library account through LOIS and may renew materials as needed. We realize that faculty members may need to use specific library materials in their classrooms; and, in order to accommodate your needs, we provide additional options for faculty members such as:

Booking Materials in Advance

We now offer faculty members the opportunity to book (or reserve) materials in advance. This allows you to use materials at the specific points in the semester that you need them while still ensuring that other faculty and students have the opportunity to use them as much as possible. When we receive a request to book an item, we will attach a reservation for the item in our library system during the specified time period. Patrons who check out the item prior to the booking date will be asked to return the materials on or before the booking date.

Watch this quick video to learn more about the booking process or read the video transcript.

Note: The Library cannot guarantee the availability of booked items. There is always a risk that booked items checked out by another patron may not be returned in time for the reservation.

InterLibrary Loan

If you want material that is not owned by the CRC Library, you may request an interlibrary loan, free of charge, either from our sister libraries within the Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD) or from libraries outside of LRCCD. You must have a current, activated library card in order to use these services.

Requesting items from other LRCCD Libraries:

You may request library items from any of the LRCCD Libraries (American River, El Dorado Center, Folsom Lake, Sacramento City) to be sent to CRC Library for you to pick up. Search for your item in the Library Catalog (http://lois.losrios.edu). If it is available at one of our sister libraries and is not restricted to in-library use, simply click the Request feature and follow the instructions on the screen. Items sent from our sister libraries generally arrive within 2-3 business days of placing the request.

Note: Reserve items from another Los Rios campus cannot be requested through our InterLibrary Loan system. You may go to the Los Rios campus library where the Reserve item is located and use it at that facility.

Requesting items from libraries outside of LRCCD:

You may also request items from a network of libraries outside of LRCCD. There is no charge for requesting items outside of LRCCD. Forms are available at the Circulation Desk, the Reference Desk, and online for requesting items outside of the district. Request forms must be filled out completely and should be submitted in person at the Circulation Desk.

Book and Media Purchase Requests:

Our primary goal is to support the needs of the students in your classes. For this reason, faculty requests for book and media purchases receive the highest priority since student utilization of library resources is driven by your course assignments. Contact your subject liaison to submit a book or media purchase request. In many cases, we are able to fulfill all faculty requests. However, due to budget constraints, we ask all faculty members to rank their requests based on the following need level:

Need Level:

1: Critical - Vital to teaching my current classes and will definitely be used by my students.

2: Collection Enhancement - Fills gaps in the library collection and may be used occasionally by my students.

3: Wish List - Item is relevant to the subject areas I teach and would be nice to have in the library collection.

When making requests, we ask that you also indicate whether the item would be put on Reserve and to which class(es) and instructor(s) it should be linked. Please contact your subject liaison to submit book and media requests.