Find Textbooks

What are Course Reserves?

Reserves are textbooks and other course reading materials that your instructor has put on hold for in-library use. You can check out a reserve item for two hours at a time with your student ID.

Course Reserves are meant to provide temporary assistance as you wait for your required textbooks and other course readings to arrive. While many course textbooks are available, because reserves are made possible via donations and funding that varies every semester, the library doesn’t have all required textbooks.

Course Reserves are located behind the Circulation Desk on the 1st floor of the Downey Learning Resource Center in Merced. The Los Baños Campus Library also has Course Reserves located behind the Circulation Desk. Please note that items on reseve can’t be sent between campuses.

How Do I Know if the Library Has My Textbook?

• Verify the title and edition of your textbook in your course syllabus / Canvas / College Bookstore listing
• Search for the book in OneSearch, the library’s catalog
  • A quick way to search is to enter the title of the book and click on the magnifying glass
• If the library has the book, note the campus library location & call number (not ISBN)
  • The call number tells library staff where items are physically located in the library
  • In OneSearch, the call number is available in parentheses

• If your item is in Merced, bring the call number & your student ID to the 1st Floor Circulation Desk at the Downey Learning Resource Center to check it out
• If your item is in Los Baños, bring the call number & your student ID to the Circulation Desk at the Los Baños Campus Library to check it out