• Search the Ventura County Library catalog of books and materials available in all the Ventura County Libraries. Use your library card to renew and place requests on items.
• Search Ventura County eLibrary ebooks, databases and websites for your research, homework and information needs. You will need your library card barcode to access content.
• Our website (www.vencolibrary.org) has links to many resources on each Libraries' location page, our Kids & Teen pages and our Need more information about ...? page, to name just a few.

Visit our Contact Us page.

Yes we do!

• Our Need more information about ...? page contains links to many resources on:
  • Government Sites
  • Health Information Sites
  • Help for tough times
• Our Where Do I Start? page offers links to get kids started on homework assignments on:
  • California Missions
  • Countries
  • Mythology
  • Native Americans
  • States
• Our FAQ on Catalog searching helps patrons find items in our online catalog
• See also our comprehensive FAQ page

Yes, please see our Locations page.

There is a rule of thumb and several exceptions - so it can be confusing! When you see (a gray version) of the symbol shown here beside a link, it means your computer will open a new window for that link and *in most cases* this means you are leaving Ventura County Library's website.

• The exceptions include our catalog and our eLibrary, which both exist on separate servers than our website and so are "seen" by the software as separate websites. We find it more convenient for those to open in a saparate window, so you can be in the catalog and on the website at the same time.
• One other notable exception is BookLetters - an online vendor providing book lists, reviews and customizable newsletters. While we subscribe to their content and their pages look like our website, they are separate and those pages will open in a new window.

You may want to bookmark our Site Map page as your home page. It is a page of static links to all parts of the webpage.

If the menu fly outs under "Special Interests" disappear UNDER the rest of the content, it is an indication that your computer is using a browser version of Internet Explorer 6 or earlier. There are several solutions:

• You can upgrade your browser to Internet Explorer 7 or higher at Microsoft
• You can simply use the main links to find the pages "under" them. For example, when you click either "Books & Reading" or "Teen Pages" or "Kids' Pages" or "Adult Literacy", the page has links to all other pages in that set.
• You may want to bookmark our Site Map page as your home page. It is a page of static links to all parts of the webpage.

We have a page for Holiday Closures. 

Yes. All of our library locations* have public computer labs from which you can access the Internet and use Microsoft Office products: Word, Excel and PowerPoint (some have Publisher.)

Additionally, all locations of the Ventura County Library* have wireless access.

Your library card barcode provides access to the public computers available in our library computer labs. Your computing session is subject to time limits and availability.

For reference, our Library Policies.

* except the Museum of Ventura County - Research Library

YES! All locations of the Ventura County Library* have wireless access!

* except the Museum of Ventura County - Research Library

What you need to connect:

• A Ventura County Library card and a PIN number
• A wireless network interface card, 802.11b or later; newer laptops have built-in cards
• A charged battery; electrical plugs may not be accessible
• Compatible headphones if you plan to use audio files

Locate available wireless networks:

1. For PCs… double click on the wireless icon in systray (right bottom) OR
   a. (Win Vista, XP) Start => Connect to => Show all connections 
   b. (Win 2000) Start => Settings=> Network Connections
   c. Double click =>Wireless Network connection
   d. View Wireless Networks. Double click on Ventura County Library network
2. For Macs….
   a. Use the Airport Setup Assistant program. See desk staff for handout
   b. Locate the Ventura County Library wireless network
3. Once connected, open your browser (e.g., Internet Explorer)
4. Wait up to 15 seconds for Login page
5. Type in your barcode and PIN number
6. Accept the Terms of Service
7. Login

Important, please note:

• Printing is currently not available from the wireless network
• Wireless is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week [subject to local access & authority]
• Library staff cannot assist patrons with technical issues

Printable screenshot handouts:

• Connecting to VCL wireless
• Connecting to VCL wireless with Vista 

Yes. Our brochures are available online on our About Us page.

There are several ways to increase or decrease the size of text on webpages. We recommend using your browser to increase the size of website text and images. Here are just a few of the ways to increase and decrease your view without changing the resolution of your computer:

• Hold down the Ctrl key (at the lower left of your keyboard and also to the right of the space bar) and hit the + (PLUS) key to increase the text size; the - (MINUS) key to decrease the text size.
• Hold down the Ctrl key (at the lower left of your keyboard and also to the right of the space bar) and - if your mouse has a scroll wheel - roll your mouse scroll wheel back and forth to change the size of the page.
• Internet Explorer - In the lower right hand corner of the Window, see the magnifying glass and percentage number. Click on the small arrow to see other choices or click on the percentage for set increase intervals.
• Mozilla FireFox - Under the VIEW menu, click on ZOOM; select an option. Windows has a Magnifier tool as well: at your START menu, choose All Programs => Accessories => Accessibility => Magnifier. Your computer will adjust so any area you mouse over is magnified.