I Bet You Didn't Know!

Last quarter SGA was discussing the library and how we can make it more convenient to students. One idea that we came up with was to have books available to students that go with the classes that are on campus. When a student comes into the library they ask for a book for a class because they were unable to buy the book. Sometimes when a professor teaching that subject puts the book on reserve it is there but if not then they do not have it.

Well on Tuesday I was sitting in the Library and I decided to speak to one of the librarians and ask her some questions about the library. Mary, who is the librarian, was very friendly and nice to talk to. She is in charge of purchasing books and running the library. Anyway, I spoke to her about the books in the library, what she felt worked well for students and what did not work for students. It was a very pleasant conversation and I found out something very interesting!

As I mentioned earlier SGA wanted to bring books into the library for classes that run on campus. Well come to find out there is an online form on the library website that allows you to order a book for any class that runs on campus! If for example you were unable to buy a book for this quarter, you can go to the library and ask for the book. You have to go to the Berkeley Website, type in library in the search box and click on the library link for your campus. Then on the left hand side link panel click on “Textbooks on Reserve”. When you click on that link you will get a list of ALL the books currently available in the library for any class that runs that quarter on campus and online.

This list is pretty long, but if you do not see the book that you need you can click on the “Request” link and fill out the request form for a book. When this happens the librarian gets the request and they right away go to the book store and purchase the book for you! You can literally wait in the library until they come back and give you the book! Now I bet you that’s something you never knew about!