LibGuides: Resources for New College Graduates: Home: Resources for New College Graduates

Dear New Graduates:

On behalf of the library staff at [Your College] and the Massachusetts Library System, congratulations on your graduation! You may not realize that many of the library resources and services you've used during your time here are limited to current students due to licensing restrictions and staffing constraints. This guide is designed to help you access high quality information resources through local, state, and regional resources.

Library Services for Alumni

Library Privileges at [Your Alma Mater]
[This is a sample alumni page from Gordon Library at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Librarians reusing this page: Change this link to reflect your own institution! Graduates: Contact your college library for details.]
Zotero Citation Manager
Keep track of all your research at college and beyond with this open source citation management tool. If you've been using a tool like EndNote on campus, you can import your citations to Zotero so you can continue to build on your research collection.

Libraries for Life After Graduation

Got a new job?

All that research you did in college was great practice for real life! Many jobs will require you to find information for reports, project proposals, patient education, etc. Some employers even have their own library! If not, you can check for relevant info at your local public library, statewide databases, or freely available resources such as the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

nurse looking at her watch at a patient's bedside

More Than Books!

Things you may be able to borrow from your local public library: museum passes, gardening tools, video games, video game consoles, DVDs, cake pans, wifi hotspots, telescopes, original artwork, neckties, ukuleles. Oh, and books!

[image CC0 Public Domain]

young person wearing a hat and holding ukulele over the shoulder

Adulting 101

You may have less homework now, but you've got all kinds of other stuff to think about. Job hunting and resume writing. Budgets and financial literacy. Apartment hunting and home buying. Healthy cooking. New tech skills. How to fix your broken stuff. Your public library may be able to help! Check their website for workshops and resources.

Going Back to School?

Are you headed off to graduate school? Congratulations on this new chapter in your scholarly career! Each school is a bit different, so be sure to attend the library orientation session, or at least stop by the library early on to find out what kinds of resources and services are available to you. And if you've built up your own collection of sources through a library citation manager like EndNote or RefWorks as an undergrad, check with the library staff at your new school to find out how to transfer them over. (Alternatively, try out Zotero, which is freely available to everyone.)