By registering for a course at the Extension School, you can take advantage of many Harvard Library benefits, including online access to Harvard Library resources.
Online Resources
Search the HOLLIS library catalog for books, articles, and more.
Use the Library Guide for Harvard Extension School for help with Harvard Library services and resources, as well as research help.
If your instructor has asked you to search a particular database (for example, JSTOR) you can search for the database on the Databases website.
On-Campus Resources
Harvard libraries are open to active Extension School degree candidates and premedical program participants with a Harvard student ID card as well as currently registered Extension School students with a class participant library card.
Class Participant Library Cards
If you are a registered student at the Extension School, you are eligible for a class participant library card that allows you on-campus access and borrowing privileges at Harvard libraries during the terms in which you are registered. Class participant library cards provide privileges only at Harvard libraries; they do not provide access to other Harvard University facilities or resources.
How to Obtain a Class Participant Library Card
Registered students may visit the Campus Service Center to have their photo taken and card printed in person during business hours. The Campus Service Center is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., excluding University holidays.
To receive a card, you must:
- Be registered in one or more courses for the current term.
- Have an active Harvard ID number (HUID). The Registrar’s Office will notify you by email when your HUID is assigned and active each term (generally one business day after you register for courses).
- Visit the Campus Service Center in person during business hours. Cards cannot be mailed or distributed to third parties.
- Present a government-issued photo ID that includes full name, date of birth, a photo, and an expiration date in the future. This validation is a Harvard University security requirement. You will not be able to pick up your card without this documentation. The full legal name and date of birth on your government-issued photo ID must match exactly the name and date of birth on your student record as it appears in MyDCE. If they do not, submit a biographical information changes form at least one week before you plan on getting your card. The Campus Service Center will not issue you a card if this information does not match.
Already have a Harvard ID card?
If you already have an active Harvard ID card (e.g., you are an Extension School degree candidate or premedical program participant, Harvard employee, Library Borrower card holder, or active POI card holder such as contractor, consultant, security, tenant, partner, or family member), you are not eligible for a class participant library card. Your library access will exist on your current card.
Replacement Cards
Lost cards can be replaced by visiting the Campus Service Center. You may also deactivate your card before visiting the Campus Service Center by using the “Lost Card” feature in the Harvard ID Card Web Application. A $35 fee payable by cash or check is charged for each replacement card.
Stolen cards must be reported first to the Harvard University Police Department (617-495-1212), then to the Campus Service Center. The replacement fee will be waived for stolen cards if you provide a copy of the police report.
Broken cards should be taken to the Campus Service Center. Staff will assist you and replace your card if necessary. There is no charge for replacement of broken cards. However, there is a $35 replacement cost for cards the Campus Service Center determines are intentionally damaged.
Card Expiration
Your card will remain active through the end of the term, as long as you remain registered in at least one course. After the term ends, we ask that you retain your card, as it will reactivate if you register again in future semesters. Failure to retain your card will result in a replacement card fee.
Questions?
Please contact us at IDCards@Extension.Harvard.edu.
Harvard Library
The following is a list of FAS and graduate school libraries ranging in size from Widener, which houses 3.5 million books and offers the world’s most comprehensive research collection in the humanities and social sciences, to libraries that focus on a single discipline, such as the Loeb Music Library.
- Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library
- Baker Library (Harvard Business School)
- Birkhoff Mathematical Library
- Botany Libraries
- Cabot Science Library
- Chemistry and Chemical Biology Library
- Countway Library (Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
- Ernst Mayr Library
- Fine Arts Library
- Frances Loeb Library (Harvard Graduate School of Design)
- Fung Library
- Gutman Library (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
- Harvard Divinity School Library
- Harvard Film Archive
- Harvard Law School Library
- Harvard Map Collection
- Harvard Theatre Collection
- Harvard-Yenching Library
- HKS Library and Research Services (Harvard Kennedy School)
- Houghton Library
- Lamont Library
- Loeb Music Library
- Physics Research Library
- Tozzer Library
- Widener Library
- Wolbach Library
To find out more about the libraries, visit the Harvard Library website. Under Visit & About, see Locations & Hours to plan your visit, and Find a Space to search for group study rooms and the availability of amenities like printers, scanners, and food and drink policies.
Questions?
If you have any questions about library resources, please contact Mary Frances Angelini, Angelini@FAS.Harvard.edu or Jonathan Paulo, Jonathan_Paulo@Harvard.edu. Or visit the Extension School LibGuide for more help.
