Libraries and Sharing Information

Libraries play a vital role in sharing information and technology services to communities they serve.  For Leonard Lief Library, this includes providing access to library databases that contain books, newspapers, magazines, journals, streaming films, and more.  When explaining these resources to students in library classes, library faculty stress they are accessible due to their affiliation as Lehman College students.

Without this association, many of these sources could only be available by paying a one-time fee or signing up for a subscription.  In addition to the Library’s subscribed resources, librarians also demonstrate New York Public Library’s (NYPL) selection of library databases that supplement our own holdings.  Students are frequently surprised to learn that anyone who lives, works, or attends school in New York State is eligible to receive a card.  This can now be accomplished completely online, a welcome change since the pandemic.

This option is particularly useful for students who lose access to our off-campus resources when they graduate, but can continue to access them and all the Library’s onsite services by becoming alumni or a Friends of the Library member (https://lehman.edu/library/friends.php).

Technology services offered by the Library include free WiFi, free scanning, headphones and chargers for use in the Library, as well as printing through allotted funds from their Student Technology Fee.  With the number one reason for people not having internet at home being cost, these services are crucial for students to complete their classwork, as well as benefit their personal life. The Library prides itself on being attuned to students’ ever changing needs, and is committed to making our physical and virtual offerings accessible to the Lehman community.

Libraries need to continue their mission and receive ongoing funding and support to accomplish it.

Michelle Ehrenpreis