CONCORD, NH — The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) campus libraries at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Durham and Manchester campuses, Keene State College (KSC), and Plymouth State University (PSU) are now offering free borrowing services to New Hampshire residents.
Free borrowing to New Hampshire residents opens opportunities for research, education, and continued learning alongside resources already available through local public libraries and Interlibrary Loan services. While New Hampshire resident patrons previously had access to campus library spaces such as reading rooms, and resources such as public computers, microfiche and microfilm machines, scanners, and more, free borrowing offers more flexibility to patrons using USNH library services.
“We welcome visitors to our campus libraries, and now we are extending free loans of books and other physical objects to Granite State residents,” said Tara Lynn Fulton, Dean of the UNH Library. “We hope more people will take advantage of the wealth of information available at our public college and university libraries across the state,”
“My fascination with libraries has followed me – and served me well – from early childhood, through universities, careers, and now in retirement,” said Eleanor Lonske, a local Durham resident. “After retiring to Hebron [New Hampshire], I audited courses at Plymouth State University and made good use of its library as well as the Pease Public Library in Plymouth. I now live at Riverwoods-Durham where I borrow books from its library, the Durham Public Library, and the UNH Library where I have checked out books both for UNH courses I have been auditing and for pure pleasure reading.”
“I have led book discussions in New Hampshire libraries for many years, and I did as much research for them as I had done for my college classes. The UNH library has more academic books than our local library,” said Jennifer Lee, former English faculty member of UNH and a local Durham resident. “These UNH books allowed me to present greater background and critical information on the books and authors being discussed. Many New Hampshire residents, college graduates or not, are lifelong learners, and will be grateful for the larger resources a university library offers. And these resources include the helpful reference librarians.”
“Lamson Library and Learning Commons at Plymouth State University has over 300,000 circulating items that are available to our New Hampshire resident borrowers, including books and audiovisual materials,” said Robin DeRosa, Ph.D., Director of Learning and Libraries at PSU. “Lamson also has a café serving snacks and Starbucks coffee drinks, meeting rooms, an art exhibition space and a small performance stage, all of which are open for public use as well. It’s a beautiful, welcoming space and we are happy to share our resources and support with our community.”
In addition to free borrowing services, USNH libraries give access to special collections and archives that are unique to the institutions, such as the internationally famous Betty and Barney Hill papers, located at Dimond Library at the UNH Durham campus, or the Charles and Judith Hildebrandt Collection at Mason Library at KSC, which supports the Holocaust and Genocide Studies academic program—the only undergraduate program in the United States of its kind.
New Hampshire residents eighteen years old or older can obtain library cards from USNH campuses with valid identification and proof of residency. To access special and digital collections, archives and research databases, New Hampshire residents must be in-person at their USNH library of choice.
Note: The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law library is not included in this initiative.
To learn more about the University System of New Hampshire, visit www.usnh.edu/yours
