Most libraries carry a limited number of purpose-made textbooks (eg., Introduction to Criminal Justice or Chemistry: Molecular Approach). Unless your professor has put that title on hold as a course reserve (more details in the next paragraph), there is a high likelihood that you will not be able to borrow that kind of textbook from our Libraries or other Libraries. However, if your professor is using a novel or scholarly book as required reading for your class (eg., Grapes of Wrath or The Second Wave: Southern Industrialization from the 1940s to the 1970s), it is more likely that we will be able to find it for you.
Some professors make their textbooks available as course reserves, which are items available for short-term loan at the AU Libraries. Often, professors will let you know if they have put textbooks on reserve in class or in the syllabus. You can search for course reserves in the library catalog by clicking the first drop down in the search box and changing it from GIL-Find to Course Reserves. Then type in the title you are looking for.
You can also search the library catalog to see if the AU Libraries or other USG institutions have your textbook and request them for pickup. Learn how to search the catalog here. Check your catalog search results to see if the title you find is the same edition as the one listed in your syllabus so it will have the correct information. Edition information will be listed under the author’s name if there are multiple editions of a work.
If you do not find your textbook in the AU Libraries or from another USG institution, you can attempt to request it from another library through interlibrary loan.