FAQs

Since Darkstar is a student-run library, our hours change every quarter; we typically announce our hours for the quarter during week 2, but they are subject to change. You can see this quarter's opening hours on the Schedule & Events calendar. 

Note that we don't have any regular hours during week 1, finals week, or over any break; but some librarians may choose to open Darkstar on those days at their leisure. Thus, we also highly recommend you check our Discord, as we always keep it updated to reflect whether the library is currently open or closed. This is especially useful on occasions when we are open later than usual or when we are forced to close up early.

Checking out books is super easy! All you need is your UC San Diego ID card if you have one; if you aren't a student or faculty, any form of identification will suffice. Just talk to the librarian on duty, show them the book and your ID, and they'll create an account for you and check out the book in your name. 

The borrowing period is one month, and you can have up to three books checked out at a time. If you don't finish a book in time, no problem; just come in whenever the library is open, and the librarian on duty can renew the loan for you.

If you want to browse our catalog to see what books are currently available, you may do so here!

You can always reach out to any of the officers by sending an email to darkstar@ucsd.edu. You can also message any of the officers on our Discord, or send a DM to our Instagram.

If you want to talk to the officers in person, feel free to stop by our staff meetings, which are open to the public. You can see when our next staff meeting will be on the Schedule & Events calendar.

If you're interested in becoming a librarian, reach out to an officer or send an email to darkstar@ucsd.edu for more information! We're always looking for new librarians to join our staff. (Note that all librarians on staff--including officers--are volunteers.)

We are a donations-based library, so we always appreciate book donations! If you'd like to donate some of your old speculative fiction books, just bring them in and talk to a librarian, and they'll take care of the rest. 

If you'd like to support us in other ways, check out some of our merchandise! It's all designed in-house, and the proceeds go straight to the library. Our merchandise can be seen and purchased in the library itself, so check it out next time you stop by!