Textbooks available in library

The high price of textbooks is a major issue for most Citrus students. Fortunately, cracking open your piggy bank to pay several hundred dollars of your life’s savings for one semester’s worth of textbooks is not the only option.

Fifteen hundred textbooks, the same editions that teachers require their students to buy, are available at the library’s reserve desk for student use.

"It is the busiest desk in the library,” said Library Technician Karen Mosher. The library has about 300 to 400 textbooks in constant circulation.

Located across the copy room, the reserve desk presents an option for students whose limited finances prevent them from buying textbooks.

Books checked out from the reserve desk are available for use inside the library only. A time limit of two hours is the norm, unless the textbook is in high demand, in which case a one-hour time restriction is imposed on the student.

High demand textbooks tend to be for mathematics and science classes, as these are classes in which the books are pricier.

If the user exceeds the time limit, a 15-minute grace period will be given to them before the staff starts searching for the student. 

“[The library] can't meet everyone's needs," Mosher said, “but the library staff is trying to make life easier for students.”

One of these students is Zacarias Menendez, a 20-year-old sophomore and radiology major.

"I've pretty much used the books that are on reserve ever since I started coming to Citrus,” Menendez said. “If it is not for math, it is for English or some other class. It’s much cheaper than buying the book, even if it’s used."

The library does not purchase the reserve textbooks. Instead, they are usually donated, however in most cases, even though the publishers are not required to give a copy, most refuse to do so.

The foundation created by Bob G. Margett, former state senator and mayor of Arcadia, recently gave $10,000 to Citrus College to stimulate a chain reaction of other donors interested in helping out the textbook reserve.

The donation made possible the creation of the Sen. Bob Margett Library Book Reserve Program. The availability of the "Margett books" follows a different pattern than the ones at the regular reserve desk.

Members of the ASCC executive board decide which titles should be purchased. Textbooks for various levels of history, biology, and mathematics classes were recently acquired with the donation.

Students may check out these textbooks and keep them for one week. In the event that these “Margett books” are not returned on time, a fine of $7 a day is charged to the account of the student who checked them out. This penalty is meant to encourage student responsibility and ensure that the books are available for other students to use. Some professors donate textbooks to increase offerings at the reserve desk.

Many students, including Yazmin Rico, a 21-year-old freshman and social work major, have benefited from this resource.

"The books on reserve are a true blessing,” Rico said. “Ever since I came back to school, I've saved a few hundred dollars thanks to the library."

The hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.