I am enrolling in College. Is there any way to check out a text book for a class?
Answer
Generally, the Public Library does not purchase textbooks as part of our collection. Some required reading is part of our holdings already, and you are able to check those items out as you normally would. As long as there are available copies, you can renew several times.
Another option is InterLibrary Loan. This is a free service where we request books from other library systems, which may carry the textbook you are looking for. However, the lending period is determined by the library system that sends the book. Average lending periods would not be long enough to cover a semester long class, though items that come from university or college libraries usually have longer lending periods. Currently, due to the pandemic, we are limiting requests to one per customer.
Non-library options that may be helpful to you are buying used, either from your college bookstores, independent bookstores, or online though Amazon.com, Half.com, or Abebooks.com. There are also several places to rent textbooks online, which can be less pricy than purchasing, including Amazon.com's Textbook Rental and Chegg.com.
