Frequently Asked Questions

If you are a student or a faculty or staff member, your library card is your SFCC photo ID card, which you obtain in the Building B Welcome Center or at the front offices of the DeSoto and Hardee campuses and the Lake Placid Center. Your library card number is on the back of this photo ID. A dual-enrolled student who does not purchase an SFCC ID card may be given a free library card at the library circulation desk; bring proof of registration and a high school ID. Career Academy students may be given a free library card at the circulation desk; bring high school ID.

If you are a community member age 16 or older, you may borrow from SFCC libraries. We have a reciprocal borrowing agreement with the Heartland Library Cooperative (HLC); HLC cardholders may present their HLC cards to our circulation desk to have SFCC borrower accounts established. There is no charge for this privilege.

A community member with no HLC card may purchase an SFCC library card at the Highlands Campus Cashier’s Office or at the front offices of the DeSoto and Hardee campuses and the Lake Placid Center. The card fee is $5 for five years. Bring payment receipt to the library circulation desk to pick up the card. A library card is required for borrowing materials and for using computers in the Highlands Campus Library.

We issue free library cards to high school juniors and seniors, age 16 and older, who are not dual-enrolled. Pick up an application at the Library circulation desk; return the application with a parent’s or guardian’s signature.

If you lose your library card, contact us immediately so we can put a stop on the card. You are responsible for anything checked out on your card.

A: The traditional card catalog has long been replaced by an electronic online database. You can access this online catalog on the Library’s website home page, http://www.southflorida.edu/student/resources/library/, using any computer with Internet access. Choose “Find: Book, eBook, or Video.”  If you need assistance, visit the library Reference Desk or Circulation Desk.

A: Yes. With a valid SFCC library card, students, faculty and staff may borrow books and other materials from other libraries through interlibrary loan. You can request books from other Florida state/community colleges by clicking the “Request” link in the SFCC library catalog. To request books from libraries other than state colleges, see the interlibrary loan specialist at the Highlands Campus library. Plan ahead; allow at least a week for requested materials to arrive.

Community borrowers should use their local public libraries for interlibrary loan services.

A: Yes. Students, faculty, and staff may use the services of the Florida Distance Learning Library Initiative (DLLI) by returning books for other Florida libraries to any SFCC library.

A: Speak with a reference staff member at the Highlands Campus library. We can assist with source selection and evaluation and with research paper formatting. We have lists of library databases and websites that provide reliable information.

Yes. The SFCC libraries have wireless connections, so you can go online using your mobile computer; however, you will not be able to connect to a printer. It is recommended that you bring a flash drive to save your files.

Yes, in addition to using the Internet, library patrons, including community patrons not affiliated with SFCC, may use our subscription databases while in the Highlands Campus library. Students may do so at the DeSoto and Hardee Campus libraries and in the computer lab adjacent to the Lake Placid Center library. We subscribe to databases covering a wide variety of subjects. The contents may be saved, e-mailed, or printed.

The Highlands Campus library computers are available to everyone, but students get priority when all workstations are in use. If others are waiting, the time limit is one hour.

Yes. Students with specific disabilities may request accommodations and services such as large print or other forms of assistive technology. Students should first contact the disabilities specialist, located in the Counseling and Advising Center, prior to visiting the library, to determine the appropriate accommodations that are needed. For information on special accommodations at the DeSoto and Hardee campuses and the Lake Placid Center, contact the SFCC disabilities specialist in the Counseling and Advising Center at 863-784-7131.