Cornell University Library is pleased to announce a pilot student-initiated textbook reserve program that will allow students to request any textbook for course reserve at any of our libraries. When the Library adds a book to current reserves holdings as part of this process, it will be available for short-term loan (typically 2 hours) for anyone with a current Cornell ID.
This new program has several goals
- It will allow the Library to more quickly fill any requests that students make for course-related materials.
- It will help the Library more efficiently identify new resources for the Cornell Library collection that students need and are likely to use right away.
- It will allow the Library to help students save money on textbooks and course materials, with important potential positive impact on inclusivity and diversity in the Cornell student body.
How does the program work? Here are the steps involved:
- Students finding themselves in need of a textbook that they do not already own should visit the Library’s Reserves page.
- Using the search box offered on that page, they should first check if the needed textbook is already on reserve at one of the Cornell’s nineteen unit libraries on campus.
- If they find it is not already on reserve, students can then click on the “Textbook Request Form” to submit a reserve request. This submission will initiate a reserve request for the needed book. In the case of a book that Cornell University Library does not already own, the submission will also trigger a purchase request.
- Students will be notified when their requested item has been purchased and/or put on reserve, as well as what format (print or e-book).
Our new approach to reserve requests essentially expands the Library’s reserve request system beyond faculty-only, to include student requests as well. We anticipate that with this change in our system, Cornell University Library can better support students who wish or need to utilize library resources for their assigned course materials. A win for everybody! For any questions, please reach out to Wendy Wilcox (ww83) or Tobi Hines (eeh53).