The librarians are available day or evening to assist faculty and their students. Peter Sezzi and Kaela Casey are available daily as are our hourly librarians.
Book Ordering:
The library is a resource to support the classes offered at Ventura College. Faculty play a vital part in the library’s collection development process, and are thusly strongly encouraged to order books to support their classes.
To make it easier for faculty, book orders may be submitted electronically by clicking the Order a Book button. Complete the form and simply press submit for ordering. Once the book is received and processed, the form will be returned to you as notification. You can also, if you prefer, email Peter or Kaela directly, or hand a catalog with circled or marked items to either Peter or Kaela.
Library Catalog and Databases:
The VC Library Catalog and full-text databases are available via the Internet and the college web site. Faculty and students may access online databases such as CQ Researcher, Opposing Viewpoints, ProQuest, JSTOR, Country Watch, etc.
To access to the VC Library Catalog & periodical databases:
- Go to the Ventura College home page at http://www.venturacollege.edu
- Click on the link for "Quick Links" in the upper right-hand area of the menu bar
- Select the menu option for "Library"
- This will take you to the Library Resources page
To learn more about these databases and how the library can help meet your instructional and assignment needs, contact Peter at extension 6189 or Kaela at extension 6563.
Orientations, Tours, and Library Instruction:
The Reference Librarians offer library orientation tours and instruction sessions to prepare students for research assignments. These are offered for both day and evening classes and can be specialized to meet class needs. Faculty may arrange for library instruction by speaking to a librarian or by leaving a message at extension 6382. The library also offers an individualized library course for students who would like to receive one unit of credit while learning how to use the library on their own.
Reserves:
Faculty may place reading material on reserve at the circulation desk for students. The types of circulation available are one week, two days, and library use only. Please give one week’s notice for preparing the items for reserve, especially at the beginning of the semester. Contact the circulation desk at extension 6482.
Textbooks Available in the Library:
The Library has two Textbook Lending Library Collections: the Reserve Textbooks and the Faith George Lending Library. The Reserve Textbooks are a non-circulating collection while the Faith George Lending Library circulates to students for the semester.
Reserve Textbooks:
This collection is fully funded by the Ventura College Foundation as a resource to students who need help with the cost of textbooks. The textbooks in this collection are considered on reserve and are available on a Library Use Only basis and are located at the circulation desk. They circulate for a two-hour renewable period in the library only.
Faith George Lending Library:
The Faith George Lending Library textbook collection was developed through donations from the VC Foundation, the Re-Entry Center, faculty, staff and students. The collection is available to students on a first-come-first-serve basis. Students may check out a maximum of three textbooks for the semester. Books are due back on the last day of finals.
The textbooks in this collection are considered reserve items. An item will be considered overdue immediately following the due date and library privileges will be immediately revoked until the items are returned and fines paid. Please make sure to inform students that the fines for reserve materials are quite high to encourage the return of the book(s). An hourly overdue fine of $.25 per hour per item will be charged the first day with a $5 per item daily charge thereafter. A maximum overdue fine of $100 will be levied per item. If a student fails to return the books, a library obligation for the full price of the textbook plus a $10 non-refundable processing fee will be posted against the student’s account in the Student Business Office.
This collection has been developed as a service to students. All faculty are strongly encouraged to participate in this service by donating textbooks to the Faith George Lending Library. You may also encourage your students to donate their unwanted textbooks at the end of each semester to help out future students. For more information contact the Learning Resources Supervisor at ext. 6179.
Library Cards and Loan Periods:
Faculty and Staff are given an extended loan period of ½ semester for general library materials and are not charged fines. Library cards are not required; your ID number (or 900 number) is used to identify you in our system.
Students do not need a library card; however, their personal information, including their 900 number, must be entered into our system before they may check out any material, even those items placed on reserve. General circulation items are loaned for three weeks to students and community members and are charged fines of ten cents per day. Loan periods for items on reserve range from Library Use Only, overnight, two days, or one week and the fines are $.25 per hour. Students may have their registration, grades and transcripts withheld until overdue items are returned.
Art Display:
The Library has an art hanging system installed throughout the building and display cases. If you would like to display student work or develop an informational display to accompany particular months such as Women’s History Month, etc., contact Donna Roff at extension 6382.