About

UT students and faculty are welcome and encouraged to join the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HCPLC), the nearest branch of which is the John F. Germany Library across the river (the central branch).

To use services and check out items at the public library UT students, faculty, and staff first need to sign up for a free library card. You can get a card online or in person by using your current UT Spartans ID and a piece of mail addressed to your current Tampa address (see more here about How to Get a Library Card).

HCPLC offers a large selection of streaming videos and ebooks, many of which are not available at the Macdonald-Kelce Library. If you are looking for a feature film or popular novel, join the Hillsborough Public Library!

Learning and Research: Use the databases available through membership in the HCPLC  as a supplement to the collection available to the UT community. See a list of databases here.

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) is a popular video tutorial collection available to HCPLC members. Thousands of video courses by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills are available.

Florida Electronic Library: Another database collection supported by the Florida Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services. This collection of databases and information resources is available to anyone within the state of Florida.

Consumer Reports (including Buying Guide): Use your Hillsborough Library Card login to access the website for Consumer Reports and the Buying Guide.

Meeting Spaces: Some meeting spaces are available. When considering use of these meeting spaces, keep in mind the following constraints - "Meeting room spaces are primarily intended to be used for library related functions. All other use of meeting spaces must be free and open to the public."

Meeting spaces not in use or scheduled for use may be used as study rooms and are available on a walk-up, first come, first served basis.

With a library card the public library's books and movies are also available.

More collections that may be of interest are the Burgert Brothers photo collection of 20th century Tampa, Florida History collection, and the Genealogy collection. The history collection is a particularly strong resource for local history.

A recording studio, robotics center, collaboration space, sewing machines, and 3D printers are all available just across the river. Check out John F. Germany's The Hive.

Collaborative space for group projects and presentations: "The Hive offers a variety of collaborative workspaces and tools with free access to screen-sharing technology, power outlets, and whiteboards."

Recording Studio: "Library Recording Studios provide tools and software for recording and editing audio/video projects. Cameras, green screens, microphones, and editing software are available for free."