While students struggle to find new ways to affordably obtain their textbooks during the pandemic riddled semester, the American River College library has been able to create a new way to help students get the materials they need even though the campus remains closed. 

Students no longer have the ability to physically rent books from the library for day use as they would regularly. However, that doesn’t mean that the library is completely closed because students can still rent textbooks, DVDs and books. 

The library is now entirely online with its operations, according to an email sent to the Current from Sarah Lehmann, a librarian at ARC. 

“They are doing a lot of the same things we’re doing,” Lehman said.  “One thing we all worked on together last semester was getting permission from the colleges and the district to lend physical books to students. It took a lot of work but we’re really excited we can now offer this service.” 

Here is how students can utilize the book rental resource:

• Go to the American River College library website

• Go to the “One Search” bar and search for the book you need

• Once the book is located, click the link that says “Find out if you can request this item. Sign in” then sign in with your student ID number and password

• Once the book has been requested, it will take two to three days for the library to pull the book from the shelf.

• Students will get a notification via the email or phone number you list when it is ready for pickup

• The pickup location is near the portable village, between the parking garage and Davies Hall

• If a student absolutely cannot come to campus, they can email Sarah Lehmann and the library can mail it to the student instead.

This system in place gives students another way to obtain a cost-effective resource for their classes, potentially allowing them to avoid spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks over the semester. 

If for some reason a student has an issue finding a book or has a question regarding the library, students may contact a librarian directly via email or over the phone. This contact information is available on the library’s website. 

According to Lehmann, if a student would rather stay at home or would rather not have a physical copy of a book, the library also offers E-books for students. Simply follow the same guidelines above and find textbooks through “One Search” that are available online, and you can rent and download the books to read through your account as often as needed throughout the semester.