On the behalf of staff and faculty...

Relax. Spend time with family. Read good books and watch thought-provoking films.

The LRC has hours during the break weeks. If you need to print or research, check out a book, or just want to stop by: We look forward to seeing you.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.

Drop off your used books

Southwest Florida College is donating more than ever to help the Wounded Warrior Project!

100% of our proceeds are being sent to this wonderful cause.

We are still willing to take donations at your local campus. For a reminder of what we're accepting, please click here.

Look for the big green box in the LRC. If you have any questions, reach out to LRC staff during our hours of operation.

Thank you for your continued support!

Improve your research with ebooks

Don't forget to utilize all SWFC resources when writing a paper or researching a topic! There are so many at your disposal - scholarly journal articles through LIRN, print books and magazines in your campus LRC, and our ebook collection.

Log in to EBSCO (username: swfc, password: online) and search using keywords from your topic. We have 120,000 full text books online, and our collection is always growing.

If you cannot find something helpful or relevant, ask a librarian. We are here to help!

Star Wars Reads Day

Saturday, October 5th, marks the second annual Star Wars Reads Day! It is a celebration of literacy (and all
things Star Wars, of course). Take your family and friends to a FREE event near you:
- Barnes & Noble at Brandon Square from 10am-2pm for a hero and villain costume contest, raffles, and more!
- St. Petersburg Main Public Library at 11am-12:30pm, you can dress up as your favorite character and read Star Wars books
- Barnes & Noble in Sarasota starting at 11am, with activities based on the book "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda"

Or, if you cannot make it to an event, you can celebrate at home! Make recipes and crafts with your family from this printable activity kit, read a book together, and catch up on homework from the start of the fall term.

Banned Books Week

This week is Banned Books Week, an annual event held to celebrate our freedom to read.

What is it?
Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 to respond to the sudden number of challenges to books in schools, stores, and libraries. Banning or challenging a book means that a person or group attempted (or succeeded) to remove material from a curriculum or library. This is a threat to the First Amendment and the freedom of speech.

Why were books challenged or banned?
There could be any number of reasons that items are deemed controversial. The Office Intellectual Freedom found the top three reasons were that material was sexually explicit, had offensive language, or "unsuited to any age group."

What books were banned?
Probably some of your favorites! Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, The Great Gatsby, To Kill A Mockingbird... among others.

Southwest Florida College is proud to hold some of these challenged classics at our libraries. We hope you will advocate the freedom to choose and the enjoyment of reading.

MBS Buy Back is coming to your campus!

The Fall Term is finally here....
A huge WELCOME to all our new students! We are looking forward to meeting you and having you in our SWFC family.
To our returning students: We missed you! Don't forget that MBS will be stopping at your campus and may purchase your books from prior terms. Check below for the date and time to bring in your used textbooks.

Tips for Google searches

Donate your books for a good cause

The campuses of Tampa, Fort Myers, and Port Charlotte are partnering with Better World Books to help give back!

Students, staff, and the community can drop off their used books and DVDs in one of the large green donation boxes in the LRC. 

Items will then be sent to Better World Books, an online reseller, which gives some of its proceeds to nonprofit organizations. It gives 15% of proceeds to the donating school or library.

Southwest Florida College is giving 100% of its proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project. 

We are honored to support our veterans and this wonderful cause. Please contact your campus librarian if you want to find out more about this project. To find out what items you can donate, click here.

It's summer!

Summer can be a busy time for everyone at Southwest Florida College. We're confident that with some time management, you can juggle classwork and leisure time. Check out books to help you succeed in your classes, and find some that are just fun to read!

If you have children or siblings at home, remember that there are a lot of ways to keep them occupied during the summertime. They can get a free book from Barnes & Noble, just by doing their summer reading program!

If you're a Tampa student, click here for free library workshops and events. Port Charlotte students can find library happenings on this page. Or, our Fort Myers and Bonita Springs students can find listings from this link.

To get a personalized recommendation, tell your SWFC librarian what you're interested in. We will help you find a good fit!

Congratulations, SWFC graduates!

To all of you graduating this term from SWFC... We are so proud of you! Although we will miss all of you, we hope you come back to visit and share about the great job you have and the fulfilling life you're leading.
:

"Think, if you will, of some of the people who helped get you to today, people who’ve loved you and without whose care and generosity you might not have found yourself here... Think for one minute of those who have loved you up into this day.

Let me submit to you that this is the actual definition of a good life. You want to be the kind of person who other people—people who may not even be born yet—will think about in their own silences years from now at their own commencements. We may be taught that the people to admire and emulate are actors and musicians and sports heroes and professionally famous people, but when we look at the people who have helped us, the people who actually change actual lives, relatively few of them are publicly celebrated. We do not think of the money they had, but of their generosity. We do not think of how beautiful or powerful they were, but how willing they were to sacrifice for us—so willing, at times, that we might not have even noticed that they were making sacrifices.

You have probably figured out by now that education is not really about grades or getting a job; it’s primarily about becoming a more aware and engaged observer of the universe. If that ends with college, you’re rather wasting your one and only known chance at consciousness."

-John Green's commencement address

Spring term is flying by!

Congratulations, you have survived your midterms! We hope they were not as hard as you expected. Remember, we're here to help you through the next few weeks before summer term.

• Stop by the Academic Success Center (ASC) to ask for some extra help if you need it. A tutor or one of your instructors will be happy to make time for you
• Ask a librarian in the LRC to locate a book on writing skills or on a specific subject
• Form your own study group with some classmates
• If you are graduating this June, make sure you have taken care of everything on your graduation checklist
• Take part in the student service events on your campus to feel connected

National Nurses Week

They are determined and willing to take care of others. 

They work in hospitals, clinics, or specialized facilities. 

We all know a family member or friend who has chosen the profession.

Southwest Florida College is happy to call them some of our students. 

Thank you for your hard work.

Welcome to the Spring Term

We are so happy to see our students back on campus! Remember to utilize the LRC and all our resources to help you succeed in your classes.

• Research using our LIRN databases
• Read or download an ebook
• Check out our print material and search the catalog - We have nonfiction, fiction, and subject-specific books
• Use our computers to print for free
• Learn how to log in to your online class or check your email
• Ask your LRC staff a question in-person or through Ask-A-Librarian, available 7 days a week

SWFC connects with the Tampa Bay Business Journal

Whether you are a new student, graduating, or an alumni, it's good to research companies and executives to know what's happening in your area and industry. The Tampa Bay Business Journal has created a portal for SWFC students and instructors, which you can access and search by clicking here.

You can get started right away by clicking the links on the portal, but here are a few features to help you navigate:

• "Jobs" is the journal's search engine to help find job openings in an area or industry
• "Executive files" profiles local business executives, with links to their industries
• "How-to" uses articles and videos to answers questions about marketing, funding, technology, and more
• "Business events" has links to many big cities, but click on Tampa Bay to find upcoming local events
• And, a favorite feature is the "Book of Lists," which ranks and highlights the top public and private companies in various sectors. You could use this to know who the prospective employers are in your field and perform some research on the positions they employ, or if there are any openings.  There are 90 lists to peruse, so look through it online or read the print edition in the Tampa LRC today! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

So much has been written about love and relationships, and today is a great day to dive in to some classic titles. You can find suggestions from TIME's list of "Top 10 Romantic Books."

There are wonderful books to read to your children (or nieces and nephews) in the slideshow, "Children's Book Recommendations for Valentine's Day 2013," from The Huffington Post. 

Need help writing a Valentine's Day card for someone? You can find inspiration from the "Top 50 Most Romantic Lines from Literature" at the Stylist. 

Or, browse the LRC shelves to see what we have available to check out!

A quick guide to the LRC

Click "Start Prezi" to begin this slideshow, and then click on the arrows to navigate.

Welcome to the Winter Term!

We hope you had a relaxing and fun-filled holiday break. However, we missed seeing you and are happy you're back on campus!

If you're a new student, please know you are more than welcome to use the LRC to print out your syllabus or homework, use a computer to read email, check out books, or ask for help. Our librarians and ASC coordinators are experts at research and tutoring.

Don't wait until late in the term to ask! It's the first day of Winter Term and we are ready to hit the ground running. We hope you are, too!