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Books, videos, articles, more

How to find materials

General search

EBSCO Discovery search is available from the library homepage and via the search icon in the header of other pages.

Specialized search by subject

Required course materials and reserves

  • PDFs of articles will be in your Canvas course. 
  • Books that are required for classes will be on reserve at the library, usually for 4 hour check-out periods, or available as ebooks. Learn more on the course reserves page.
  • Note: You have free access to all required readings!

Historic collections

For the history of Mount Holyoke College and other rare and unique materials, see Archives and Special Collections. In our digital collections, we have letters, student newspapers, photographs of the College and more, as well as theses that students have submitted as honors work. 

Accessing physical materials at MHC

Types of materials available on campus

  • physical books (more than 800,000)
  • DVDs
  • journals
  • CDs
  • music scores
  • photographs
  • rare books
  • manuscript materials
  • student theses

Where to find physical materials on campus

You’ll find MHC’s library materials in two locations: 

Need to locate an item on the shelf? See our floor map and stacks locations.

Accessibility of physical materials

Unfortunately, not all of our stacks floors are wheelchair accessible. See LITS services and resources for individuals with disabilities for details. 

Note: You can request items to be pulled and held at the Circulation Desk

Leisure DVD collection!

Come grab something fun over break, or just to take your mind off all that schoolwork. Leisure DVDs are on level 2, across from the Circulation Desk. 

Do you have a suggestion for a book or DVD we should buy for the library? Send us a purchase request.

Accessing online resources

Online content in EBSCO Discovery search

We also have access to many thousands of ebooks, articles, and videos online. You have free access to it all. The “MHC: Get It” link will check to see if we have access to an article or book. and if we don't have something, we can usually get it for you (also free).

Streaming video

Interested in streaming video? LITS subscribes to AVON (Academic Video Online), a streaming service curated for an educational setting. Watch movies on your laptop from anywhere, both on and off campus. All AVON movies come with limited public performance rights, so you can also show them in an auditorium to a public audience, as long as no admission is being charged.  

Getting resources from other schools 

Resources at other Five College schools

There’s more! You have access to more than 10 million physical volumes in the Five Colleges. Choose Request item and Five College items will be delivered to MHC for pickup within two weekdays. Note that you can even request MHC items. All items will be held for pickup at the Circulation Desk for seven business days.

Interlibrary Loan requests to other libraries

If you need an item that none of the Five Colleges has, we have a service to get you items from almost anywhere. If you have a citation, log in to your interlibrary loan account and place a request. Books may arrive as quickly as 4 days but, if a book is hard to find, it will take longer. Please plan accordingly. Article PDFs will be delivered to your email as quickly as the same day (often, in just hours). Note that you can request book chapters, too, and we’ll get you a scanned PDF. You can even find more books at WorldCat and request from there.

South Hadley Public Library

If you have a local public library card, you can also borrow materials through their catalog, CW/MARS, which includes a wide variety of leisure books, video and audiobooks. Go get a library card at the South Hadley Public Library or the Gaylord Memorial Library (which is right across the street!).

Questions?

We are here to make your research easier in any way we can. For support, contact the Research Help Desk.