Research Guides: Resources for International Students: How Do I Get a Book?

How do I get a book?

Waidner-Spahr Library houses over 375,000 print books and over 1 million eBooks. The library has open stacks, which means you can go to the bookshelves and help yourself to any print book you might be interested in using. Here is how you can find and check out a print book:

First, search the Library Catalog for books on your topic. Write down the Call Number (example: DS779.32 .D46 2011) and Location (example: Book Stacks, Main and Upper Level) of the book that you want to borrow.
Next, find the Location and Call Number range on our Library Map, and find the book on the shelf by matching the Call Number to the label on the side or cover of the book.
Now you can bring the book to the Circulation Desk, where you can check it out.

Students can check out an unlimited number of books at a time and keep them for 28 days. Remember to renew the books if you are not done with them by the due date.

eBooks can be accessed through JumpStart or the Library Catalog. For more information, review our tutorial eBooks at Waidner-Spahr Library.

If you have any questions about accessing books, please visit the library's Circulation Desk or contact us!

Search by Language

While many of the library's materials are in English, the library collects materials (books, newspapers, magazines, journals, DVDs) in a variety of languages and has many resources that allow you to search for materials by language.

Some examples for searching by language are below.

From the Catalog (From the Library Homepage, go to Library Catalog Only, and select a language from the language dropdown):

From eBook Academic Collection (From the Library Homepage, go to Databases, select Academic E-Book Collection (EBSCOhost), and choose a language from the menu below the search boxes):

Zoomed view:

From Ebook Central (From the Library Homepage, go to Databases, select Ebook Central, go to Advanced Search, and select a language from the language dropdown):