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A Bowdoin ID is required for entry to H-L, Hatch, Pierce, and Beckwith Libraries after 5:00 p.m.
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Bowdoin College Library
3000 College Station
Brunswick, ME 04011-8421
207-725-3280
ask@bowdoin.libanswers.com

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Visitor Information

Accessibility Services

Bowdoin College Library is committed to providing equitable access to all users of our physical and electronic collections, services, spaces, and programs and will provide assistance to anyone who needs it. Please ask at any library service desk or via phone, chat, or email.

Contact Karen Jung, Head of Access & User Services and Music Librarian, if you have questions not answered below.

Building Access

The Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L) and the Hatch Science Library offer building accessibility through easy-open touch pads on entrance doors. Access to Special Collections & Archives, the Media Commons (MC), and Hubbard Hall stacks is available through the H-L Library entrance. Beckwith Music Library (located in Gibson Hall) and Pierce Art Library (located in the Visual Art Center) are not wheelchair accessible. Staff will page items from these libraries for pickup at the H-L circulation desk.

We welcome service dogs in Library spaces in accordance with campus policy and ADA requirements.

Parking

Bowdoin College and the the Town of Brunswick have designated accessible parking spaces available near the entrances to all libraries.

Services

  • Search and retrieval for any materials that require special assistance, such as microforms, books on high shelves, or collections in facilities that are not wheelchair accessible. Ask at any service desk.
  • Library Takeout (available to all members of the Bowdoin community).
  • Check-out to proxy borrowers authorized to pick up materials on your behalf. Contact Amy Heggie, Circulation and User Services Manager.
  • Research Help
  • Help finding materials in alternate formats (audio, captioned, large print, etc.). Contact a research librarian.
  • Assistance with scanners, copiers, printers, and media equipment. Ask at any service desk.
  • Extended loan periods for members of the Bowdoin community. Contact Amy Heggie, Circulation and User Services Manager.
  • Digital delivery of searchable PDF articles and book chapters from Bowdoin’s physical collection (available to all members of the Bowdoin community).
  • Closed captioning and transcripts for audio and video media (including digitized film and television programs and media available in online subscription databases). Contact Carmen Greenlee, Humanities and Media Librarian.
  • On-demand accessibility remediation for items in the Library’s Digital Collections  that do not meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Contact Meagan Doyle, Digital Archivist.
  • Access to searchable PDFs of in-copyright materials in HathiTrust via the Accessible Text Request Service.

Facilities and Equipment

  • Quiet space for study and exam-taking, including reservable study rooms and study carrels (H-L and Hatch).
  • Wheelchair-accessible furniture.
  • Height-adjustable tables and chairs (H-L, first floor and Media Commons).
  • Accessible rest rooms (H-L basement and second floor [gender neutral], Hubbard stacks level 6; Hatch).
  • Monitors of various sizes.
  • Headphones (wired) for audio and video playback (H-L and Music).
  • Audio and video recording devices available for checkout (H-L).
  • A KIC Bookeye scanner that allows output in JPEG, PNG, TIFF, RTF, image-only or searchable PDF, and MP3 (text to audio) (H-L basement).
  • Flatbed scanner attached to computer with ABBYY Fine Reader installed (H-L basement).
  • Playback equipment for audio and video, and wired headphones (Music Library).

Assistive Software and Technologies

College Resources

Library Web Site Accessibility

The Bowdoin College Library strives to make its web site accessible in accordance with WCAG 2.0, ADA, Section 508, and other accessibility principles, standards, and guidelines. The continual evolution of content, design, and code means that some pages or tools may not meet these criteria at all times. Please tell us if you discover content that does not comply with these standards.

Some of the online content available through our web site, such as electronic books and articles, is provided via databases built and maintained by third-party vendors. While we urge all third parties to comply with accessibility standards, we have no control over the databases themselves. If you cannot access content or use features on the Bowdoin College Library web site due to a disability or other accessibility-related issue, please contact us.