Library Collections FAQs
USC is taking steps to ensure its financial resilience and sustainability so that it may continue to deliver on its mission of academic excellence into the future. As President Beong-Soo Kim has outlined in his recent messages on the USC Financial Resilience webpage, this effort is taking place across all units and departments of the university.
Rising costs for library materials exacerbate the challenges faced by many university libraries. In response to our current environment, the USC Libraries have made budget cuts impacting our library collections, which are described in this FAQ page.
- What is changing with book purchases and journal and database subscriptions?
We made the difficult decision to cancel a number of journals and databases that recently came up for renewal or will be coming up for renewal this academic year. A complete list of those resources is available online. We will continue to update this list as new decisions are made about renewals. [Last updated: Feb. 5, 2026 to reflect changes going into effect on Feb. 15, 2026. Log into your USC account to view the list.]
Despite this change, we are continuing to renew subscriptions to many of our resources. The USC Libraries provide access to more than 395,000 journals, 2.9 million electronic books, and 1,200 specialized databases. These resources can be discovered via the library catalog and by browsing the list of databases.
- Are the USC Libraries purchasing new library materials?
Our ongoing subscriptions continue to add new and updated content for books, journals and databases. Aside from these, we have a pause in place on new purchases and subscriptions, and are not accepting recommend-a-purchase requests or gifts in kind.
Throughout the 2025-26 academic year, the USC Libraries will continue to evaluate our collections budget to determine whether new materials can be purchased. At this time, we anticipate maintaining the pause until the 2026-27 academic year. Please check this page for updates.
- How can I access resources from canceled subscriptions and databases?
The USC Libraries are committed to getting you the resources you need. For many of the canceled journals, access will be retained for USC users to journal issues from 2025 and earlier. To find journal articles, just navigate to the USC Libraries homepage and search as you would normally.
You can request articles in the canceled journals, and many resources that we do not have in our collections, via our interlibrary loan and document delivery service (IDD). Average turnaround is 24-48 hours for electronic delivery of journal articles and 3-5 days for physical items. You can learn more about how to use our services on the IDD research guide.
- How can I obtain library resources for courses I am teaching?
USC faculty and instructors can use our Automated Reserves System (ARES) to request electronic and physical materials to place on reserve for students in their classes.
Our IDD team can place journal articles, book chapters, and a variety of other library materials that you request on reserve. Please visit the Course Reserves Guide for further information.
The USC Libraries are unable to collect all content that is required for courses. The Digital Course Materials Program should be used to be sure undergraduate students have access to required course materials though the USC Bookstore.
We also suggest considering Open Education Resources to mitigate the rising cost of textbooks and course materials.
- How can I get help finding related library materials?
Our librarians can help you identify similar or closely related resources from the USC Libraries’ collections. You can reach us via our Ask a Librarian service or browse a directory of subject librarians to find specialized assistance in your research or teaching area.
We can also help you identify open access databases and journals, and other freely available resources in addition to items in the USC Libraries’ collections. Open access content is also discoverable in the library catalog.
The USC Digital Library offers free online access to more than 3.3 million items, including photographs, manuscripts, rare books, sound and video recordings, and one-of-a-kind items from USC’s archival collections – as well as USC scholarship such as theses and dissertations, the Daily Trojan newspaper and El Rodeo yearbook, and much more.
- How did you make your decisions about which library resources to cancel?
The USC Libraries monitor the expenditures on and usage of all subscribed online materials in our collections, including databases, journals, and books. As license agreements for packages or individual resources come up for renewal, we review and evaluate usage data and in some cases modify or cancel packages and individual subscription titles.
In addition to the price of the resource and the cost per use, we consider the cost of labor required to purchase, catalog, and maintain our collections. We also consider the impacts of cancellations across the academic disciplines.
- What is the library doing to mitigate library collections budget challenges?
The USC Libraries utilize a number of strategies to get the most impact from our collections budget. These include an acquisitions approach that gives preference to electronic rather than print materials whenever possible. This maximizes convenient access for USC students, faculty, and staff while reducing costs associated with circulating physical library collections.
Our transformative agreements with select publishers allow broader access to research and publications produced by USC scholars. Please check our Open Access guide for information on participating publishers and on Open Access books and journals.
We leverage our memberships in the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC), the Big Ten Academic Alliance Libraries (BTAA), and other consortia to enhance our interlibrary loan services.
Links
Search our Catalog
List of Databases at the USC Libraries
IDD Guide explaining how to request materials through our Interlibrary loan/document delivery service
List of USC Subject Librarians