The Graduate Center Library is open to CUNY students, faculty, and staff, SUNY Empire State College students, faculty and staff, Graduate Center alumni, and CUNY doctoral faculty retirees. 

If you are not in these groups you can access the library by joining the Friends of the Library or getting a METRO Referral from an area library. Details below.

METRO referrals from area libraries are honored with an electronic referral or signed yellow card from another library reference desk for one-day, on-site access and use of the item cited on the card. METRO membership provides reciprocal access for users seeking access to resources unavailable in home libraries.

For additional information, see:

• METRO Visitors
• SHARES Visitors
• Visiting Students

Guests (up to 3) with valid photo ID accompanying Graduate Center students, faculty, staff with current ID may be admitted to the library at the discretion of GC security staff. All guests must sign in at the lobby security desk and provide appropriate ID for weekend library access. Children must be accompanied by an adult with current ID.

Looking for a research library to work in but not affiliated with the Graduate Center or CUNY? There are several options:

• Become a Friend of the Graduate Center Library — $250 provides a year of access, and $1000 provides a year of both access and borrowing. Several other academic libraries also have Friends programs along these lines.
• Get a New York Public Library card and apply to use one of the special study rooms at the Schwarzman Building.
• Get a New York Public Library card and apply to join MaRLI (Manhattan Research Library Initiative), which provides borrowing privileges for the research collections at NYPL, and access and borrowing privileges at Columbia and NYU.