Whether or not your plan to borrow textbooks from the library will work depends on how large your class size is and how many copies of your class textbook are available at the library. Before you choose this route, you will need to evaluate your likelihood of being able to check out your textbook as often as you will need to for the class you’ve enrolled in. You seldom will be able to check out all the textbooks you’ll need for all of your classes, so you should combine this tactic with buying or renting used textbooks online for maximum savings without sacrificing your access to the textbook.

Most university libraries allow students to check out a book for two weeks and allow a maximum of one renewal for a total of four weeks you can have the book. After this point, the book is overdue and you’ll have to pay fines if you keep the textbook any longer. Back when I was in college and decided to try checking out a textbook instead of buying it, I simply returned the book, waited for it to be re-shelved (it’s easy to tell online), and then checked it out and renewed it for another four weeks of access to the book.

I talked to one of the librarians ahead of time about doing this, and she said it was fine as long as no other student had placed a reservation on that particular book. The tactic worked for me because I was in my junior year of college and my class sizes were beginning to become progressively smaller as I transitioned from my basics into my major courses. That meant it was less likely that another student in my class would be doing the same thing as me.

I did run into some snags while doing this. When I returned the textbook the second time around, I went back to borrow the book again and it had already been checked out by someone else. My only recourse was to reserve the book for myself when it came back in, and ask someone in my class if I could borrow their textbook on the nights I needed it (luckily, I always found classmates willing to share). Eventually, however, the textbook I’d been borrowing from the library came back in, and I was able to check it out and finish out my semester using it. Grace periods also helped me extend the length of time I could hang on to the textbook I was borrowing.

While borrowing a textbook from the library is a risky endeavor and can limit your access to the book when you need it, it’s certainly a viable way for students who are tight on money to use a textbook for absolutely free.

This guest post was written by Katheryn Rivas

Katheryn Rivas regularly writes for online universities.  Questions and comments can be sent to: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.