OC logo
Libraries Home Start Researching Subject Guides Services About Us
Skip to Main Content

Textbooks: Start Here

Disclaimer: Reference herein to any trademark, proprietary product, or company name is provided solely for informational purposes and the convenience of the user and does not constitute or imply endorsement or recommendation by Olympic College.

A Few Words of Caution...

Please keep in mind the following:

 

  1. The Library and the Bookstore are two separate entities!  The bookstore sells textbooks, the library loans other types of books for three weeks at a time.  To purchase your textbook, go to the OC Bookstore, or buy it or rent it from their online store.  If you do not know which book(s) you need, the bookstore's online store can help you determine that as well.  See the Bookstore tab above for more information.
  2. The Library does systematically collect textbooks.  To buy all required textbooks across campus, even one copy each, would far exceed our entire library budget!  However, sometimes an instructor will put a copy of their textbook on Course Reserve, meaning that it is available for Library Use Only, for up to two hours at a time.  Sometimes someone will donate a textbook to the library and we will add it to the collection. (It couldn't hurt to ask your instructor to put a copy on Course Reserve at the library!)
  3. You must know the title/author/year/edition of your textbook to search for your book in the Library Catalog.  This information is usually found in your Course Syllabus.  If it is not listed, you can look up this information in the Bookstore's online ordering system (see Bookstore tab above).
  4. If you do find your textbook in the Library Catalog, double check the edition and publication year.  Most of the time if we do have a textbook, it is an older edition which may or may not still be helpful...ask your instructor if an older edition is acceptable.  Library books check out for 21 days.
  5. Visit the tabs above to find out about alternate ways of finding your textbook if you cannot purchase it from the Bookstore, or the Library does not hold a copy.