Find Textbooks & Course Reserves
Search for Reserved Materials for Your Courses
Instructors place textbooks and materials for select courses on reserve in the library so that students can access them for free.
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Physical Course Reserve Locations
Procedures for finding physical reserve materials vary from library to library. If you have questions, check with the library you are using.
- Most units have closed reserves. You will need to check out these items from that unit’s circulation or reserves desk. You should be prepared to give the class number, the instructor’s name, or the book title to library staff so that they can locate the item.
- Some units may have open reserves where you can find the materials on the shelves yourself.
Physical course materials display a reserve location in the catalog. Find reserve locations at these libraries:
Borrowing & Returning Course Reserves
Course reserves have shorter loan periods and special borrowing guidelines to give all students in a class fair and timely access to high-demand materials.
- Loan periods vary anywhere from 2 hours to 72 hours, based on class size and demand.
- Reserve materials cannot be renewed.
- Users returning reserve items must wait 15 minutes before checking the same item out again if there are no other copies available
- Reserve materials should be returned to the circulation/reserve desk where they were checked out.
- If the library is closed, they may be placed in the book return of the library where they were checked out.
- Fines on reserves are assessed hourly to encourage prompt return of materials.
- All hours are counted toward fines whether the library unit is open or closed. Any part of an hour is computed as a full hour.
Can’t Find Course Materials on Reserve?
Materials are placed on course reserve in the Libraries by request only.
Students Can Request Course Materials
If a required book or movie assigned in class is not available, students on the Seattle Campus (excluding Health Sciences Library) can submit a request to place course materials directly to the libraries via the form below. Titles not already available at UW can usually be purchased as long as funds are available.
University Bookstore
Purchase required and optional books for UW courses at the University Bookstore. (The University Bookstore is not affiliated with the University Libraries.)
Instructor Information
Instructors can reserve materials for the courses they teach and find information about other ways to make course materials available to students.