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Drake University - visit www.drake.edu Cowles Library

About

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Alumni & Visitors

Cowles Library offers a range of services, resources, and library cards to alumni, community members and visitors. Our Information Desk staff is here to assist you in navigating our collections and making the most of our library's resources. Whether you're exploring our materials, need assistance with research or help finding your way around, we're ready to support your needs. Learn more about our offerings for alumni, visitors, and community members by visiting this page.

All guests of Cowles Library are expected to adhere to library policies, which can be found on our Policies page.

Alumni Services

Cowles Library supports Drake University alums through our library card program. All Drake alums are eligible for a free library card to Cowles Library.

  • Cards are valid for three years and can be renewed at the end of the three-year period.
  • Cards allow you to check out books and other circulating materials from the library.
  • With an alumni card, you have access to the public computers available to visitors. 
  • Alumni cards do not allow for remote (off-campus) access to databases (except for these Alumni Access Databases), SuperSearch, eBooks, streaming media, and other restricted library resources. These resources are accessible only when logged in to Library computers. An alumni card also does not allow access to Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services.

Alumni Database Access

Whenever possible, we encourage our database vendors to allow Drake alumni to access articles, e-books, and other online content. Our Alumni Access Databases all allow alumni access with your Drake ID an password.

If you do not have your Drake ID, contact the Drake ITS Support Center at 515-271-3001. If you know your ID but forgot your password, use the Drake ITS Password Gateway to reset it.

Visitors and Community Members

Visitors can access borrowing privileges and desktop computers by visiting the Information Desk with a valid government-issued photo ID. To be eligible, visitors must be at least 18 years of age. Our staff will be happy to assist you in setting up your account and ensuring you have everything you need to make the most of our library's offerings. Please visit the Visitors and Community Members page for details.