Do you have my textbook?

It’s the time of year when we get a lot of questions textbooks, so before you come and ask “Does the library have my textbook?” let me save you some time and say...probably not. And the next question is "Can we get textbooks through Interlibrary Loan (ILL)" and the answer is....no.

I know, I know it sounds really mean, but we do have good reasons for this so if you keep reading for a bit I'll give you a brief explanation.


We usually don’t purchase textbooks because they are really expensive and the publishers push out new editions so often that books become obsolete very quickly.  If we purchased every textbook for every class we wouldn't be able to buy all of the other books you may need for your research or anything else.  While you may find a book that's being used for your course, its very rare and its likely an older out of date edition, meaning that page numbers and information would likely not match up with the information your professor wants you to have.

Students also ask us if we can get their textbooks on Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The answer is no.  Just as we don't buy the textbooks most other libraries don't buy textbooks.  Even more important its frowned upon in ILL to borrow textbooks as it puts other libraries at a disadvantage and generally goes against ILL rules (there are a set of rules nationwide that govern ILL policy.)  Please don't ask and please don't make the request for your textbooks via Interlibrary Loan because it could hinder our ability to get other books from libraries.


So while we appreciate your visits to the library and we want you to get your books and information here, but we don't intentionally purchase textbooks and we can't borrow them through Interlibrary Loan.