LibGuides: Textbooks: Home

Getting Textbooks

There are a few different ways you might be able to get a physical copy of the textbook for your class here at WOU:

Borrow from the library

Some textbooks are available in the library - either via course reserve (usually 1-4 hour checkout) or regular checkout (12 weeks + 1 renewal). Check to see if the library has your textbook on reserve by searching for the title and author.
NOTES:
- Only *some* textbooks are available on course reserve. Putting a textbook on course reserve is up to each course instructor.
- Reserves can be either physical or digital.
  - To check out a print copy of a textbook on reserve, write down the call number and take it to the Checkout Desk in Hamersly Library.
  - To check out a digital course reserve, click the "Online Access" link for your textbook, and then click the "Digital Version" link under View Online. **Note: most digital reserves are limited to one or two users at a time, so if you can't access it that probably means your classmates are already using it. Try again later!
- The loan time of items on course reserves varies from 1 hour to 7 days.
- If the book you need isn't available at WOU, change your search scope to "WOU and Summit" to see if one of our partner Summit libraries owns it.
  - The loan time of books from both WOU and Summit is 12 weeks + 1 renewal (12 weeks total).
- Availability of course reserves is limited, so search early in the term!

Buy from the WOU Bookstore

Use the WOU Bookstore website to look up required textbooks by class and place orders. You can also learn about local textbook rental and buyback programs. **Keep an eye-out for Open Access textbooks, which are listed for your course with with bookstore and are available for free online (you will still need to pay for a physical copy). Learn more about searching for Open Access textbooks below:

Open Textbooks Collection

Open textbooks are free, online learning materials with Creative Commons licenses. Many of the collections will have links to the same books, but each will have a particular focus, and items you can't find in other collections.

Open Textbook Library
Collection of openly-licensed textbooks that been reviewed by faculty from a variety of colleges and universities to assess their quality. The Open Textbook Library is supported by the University of Minnesota Center for Open Education and the Open Education Network.
OpenStax
OpenStax is a nonprofit educational initiative based at Rice University that publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed, openly licensed college textbooks that are absolutely free online and low cost in print.
B.C. Open Textbook
Collection of open textbooks for a variety of subjects and specialties from the B.C. Campus OpenEd. The open textbooks have been reviewed by faculty, meet accessibility requirements, and/or include ancillary materials (quizzes, test banks, slides, videos, etc.).
eCampus Ontario Open Library
Provides educators and learners with access to more than 250 free and openly-licensed educational resources. The library was launched in 2017 in partnership with BCCampus.
Milne Open Textbooks
An open-access textbook publishing initiative established by State University of New York libraries and supported by SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grants. They publish high-quality, cost-effective course resources by engaging faculty as authors and peer-reviewers, and libraries as publishing service and infrastructure.
LibreTexts
A non-commercial open textbook organization initiated at the University of California, Davis. Their collection is used across the nation as primary course textbooks and as supplemental learning resources.
PressBooks
A digital publishing space for open access books, that incorporates multimedia and interactive activities, like videos quizzes and H5Ps int to an online accessible textbooks.

Websites

Below is a list of websites that specialize in selling and renting textbooks. This list is meant to be informational only; Hamersly does not endorse or recommend any of these specific sites.

AbeBooks
Find new and used textbooks for your college course, including reference books, study guides, key texts, academic journals, test prep books, and classic literature.
Books Run
Buy, Sell, Rent Books and eBooks
Campus Books
Searches multiple textbook vendor sites to sell, rent, and buy textbooks
Cheapest Textbooks
Buy or Rent Cheap Textbooks
BigWords.com
Allows you to search across multiple sites to compare prices for renting, buying and selling.
Chegg
Buy, rent or sell textbooks.
eCampus.com
Buy, rent or sell textbooks.
Textbooks.com
Buy, rent or sell textbooks.
CourseSmart
E-books only. Normal rental period is 180 days. Free trials available. Free apps for iPad, iPhone and Android devices.

Contact WOU Library

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E-mail: libweb@wou.edu

Phone: 503-838-8418

Text: 503-383-9681

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