<p>Since buying all the textbooks will be very expensive, I was wondering how many books can be borrowed at a time from any of the libraries of lehigh. Also how long can the books be borrowed for.</p>
<p>Copaman, or any1 else, can u shed some light on this?</p>
<p>You can “rent” textbooks through the bookstore. Many times you can buy them from other students as well. Check out the Lehigh Bookstore website for more information about renting textbooks.</p>
<p>My son hasn’t started @ Lehigh yet, but speaking of the other schools my kids have gone to:</p>
<p>In general, none of my kids have been able to borrow text books from the school libraries. If there is a copy in the library, it would be held on “reserve,” but it is for in library use only.</p>
<p>My kids have been able to borrow other books - for example @ Smith my daughter had to read JUDE THE OBSCURE by Thomas Hardy. She checked it out of the PUBLIC library. But never have they been able to check out text books.</p>
<p>I believe that most textbooks are on reserve, which means that you have to use them in the library. You can’t check them out.</p>
<p>and apart from textbooks, aren’t we allowed to borrow books?</p>
<p>Actually, back here in my country, every admitted student is issued all the course books for each semester by the college/university library. so its quite surprising that Lehigh doesnt allow to borrow textbooks. Is this policy only at Lehigh or any other american college?</p>
<p>One caveat: I’m not a student, so I don’t borrow textbooks. You need a student to reply, but . . . </p>
<p>The way it usually works is that if a textbook is in the library, you can take it out as long as a professor hasn’t put it on reserve. Some textbooks are on reserve during the semester when they are being used and then go back to regular circulation. Why? Imagine a class of 50 students and only one or two textbooks available. If those texts are taken out at the beginning of the semester, then the other students are denied access to it.</p>
<p>You have access to other books in the library. Depending on the status of the books (reserve, reference, rare, open), you may or may not be able to check it out. This is the case in most, if not all, American university libraries.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, most professors are conscious of the cost of books, and they try to assign only those books necessary for the course. As others have said, you can either read the textbook in the library or “rent” it from the bookstore or buy a used copy or buy a new one. Even if you buy a new one, you can usually resell it to the bookstore for a portion of the original price. Sometimes you can get a cheaper price online, although you have to plan carefully to make sure that you get it on time and are certain you will be taking that course.</p>
<p>You will want to keep some of your books, particularly if you might need them as background/brush up for later courses or expect to go to graduate school in that field.</p>
<p>I go to Lehigh and here is some advice on textbooks. No you can’t borrow the ones you need for classes. You can borrow like novels and other research books to aide in classes. So if you will need to buy books. Buy them from Amazon get them use from a seller, then once class is over sell them back on Amazon. I have actually made a profit doing this. Buy your books early and you usually get cheaper prices. Also never buy from the book store unless you need it urgently. Lastly if your book list for your classes tries to get you to buy a custom version don’t do it! They are the same thing as the normal books but crappier because its paper pack and printed on black and white ink with the name of your class and professor. Which makes it much harder to resell for the amount you paid. Also don’t fall for the scam at school where they give you cash for your books. Usually you can make much more online.</p>
<p>@ASEAGODOW, thanx man!!</p>
<p>well, I’ll be attending Lehigh this fall and i’m an international, so i dont have much idea about how things work in the states.Can u give me some idea when it will be an appropriate time to start buying the course books??</p>
<p>Trinitian, As soon as you get your classes scheduled - I think it is mid summer or so, you then go a in and find the texts needed for each class. We ordered ours used from Amazon.com. There are also many students selling their old textbooks on the Facebook page so watch for that as well!</p>
<p>^thanx mumof2boyz :)</p>