Boston Library Consortium

The Boston Library Consortium is a non-profit corporation and consortium of academic and research libraries.  It does not host its own library collections.  Students, scholars and researchers affiliated with BLC member libraries can use the services of other member libraries.  

UMass Lowell is a Full Member of the BLC. Students, scholars and researchers affiliated with a Full Member can use the BLC Consortium Card to gain access to and borrow materials from the member libraries.  Consortium Cards are available to faculty, staff, and students of the BLC's academic institutions and to staff and patrons - on a limited basis - of the State Library of Massachusetts.

If you are affiliated with a BLC member institution, contact the information desk at your institution's main library for more information about obtaining a Consortium Card. You must go in person to the circulation desk in either O'Leary or Lydon Library to apply for a BLC card.

• The Consortium card is an identification card; card holders must register in person at each Consortium library visited. Procedures vary among libraries ranging from pro-forma registration to a screening interview to assess needs.
• The Consortium card does not automatically confer borrowing privileges throughout the Consortium; holders should check this User Guide carefully for each library’s registration and borrowing regulations.
• The Consortium card is a privilege and card holders must observe each host library's circulation policies, including payment of charges for overdue and unreturned materials.  Per standard research library policy, the patron's home library may be notified of overdue or unreturned material by the loaning library and is liable for any fees assessed per the replacement policy of the loaning library.  The patron's home library may then assess fees to the patron and/or rescind borrowing privileges from the patron in accordance with its own regulations.  
• Card holders must validate their cards at intervals beginning in the fall as determined by the home library. Report lost cards to the home library as soon as possible.
• You may return borrowed materials to any library listed in this guide but you will be responsible for any overdue charges.

Boston Library Consortium Cards

Boston Library Consortium (BLC) Cards are used to gain access and to borrow material directly from libraries in the BLC. UMass Lowell faculty, staff and students with library accounts in good standing may register for BLC cards at the circulation desks of Lydon and O’Leary Libraries. A current UML ID is required to obtain a BLC card.

The following are the participating libraries in the BLC Consortium Card Program. Please click the name of the library for more information.

BLC Member Libraries

• Bentley University
• Boston College
• Boston University
• Brandeis University
• Marine Biological Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Northeastern University
• State Library of Massachusetts
• Tufts University
• University of Connecticut
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Massachusetts Boston
• University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
• University of Massachusetts Lowell
• University of Massachusetts Medical School
• University of New Hampshire
• University of Rhode Island
• Wellesley College
• Wesleyan University
• Williams College