LBCC LIBRARY COMMUNITY UPDATE LCU 11 August 20, 2003 by Henry DuBois

Textbooks and the Library:  What Can Students Expect?

Though fees are going up again and putting some students in a financial bind, for many more students it's not the costs of enrollment, but the cost of the textbooks they must have for their classes that's the main challenge. After admission to their classes students go shopping for their books; required texts can cost them $300-500 or more for a semester. Sticker shock indeed, and students respond in several ways. One is to try to locate copies of the texts they need in the library. In general, the library does not routinely buy textbooks for its collections; the library's books are intended to supplement and enhance the information contained in texts and taught in class. So are LBCC students who can't afford their texts out of luck when they look to the library for help? Not at all. The library accepts reserve copies of instructor-provided textbooks and makes them available to students for short term loan. Students can find them in Voyager, LBCC Library's online catalog, by author, title, instructor, course name, or department. Voyager is available at any web-enabled computer, http://voyager.lbcc.edu. Reserve items are then found at the Circulation Desk. LBCC faculty are encouraged to work with the library to use the reserve service to insure that all students in their classes have access to the textbooks they need, but may not be able to afford. Reserve forms are available online at http://lib.lbcc.edu/forms/reserveform.html. Please allow at least one week for the library to process reserve books before they can be made available to students. Students should be prepared to present their current College Services Card to borrow reserve items from the Circulation Desk. For further information contact: NhaAnh Pham/LAC (562) 938-4808 npham@lbcc.edu Randy Harveston/LAC (562) 938-4632 rharveston@lbcc.edu Raymond Joseph/PCC (562) 938-3130 rjoseph@lbcc.edu