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Course Reserves

Course Reserves is available for course support with physical and online resources accessible to students. Submit a request for print or electronic books by filling out the Book Reserves Request form

Contact Us

By E-Mail:
Book Reserves: bookreserves@ucsc.edu
Media Reserves: mediares@ucsc.edu 

By Phone: 
(831) 459-5060

What your students will see when searching for Course Reserves

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General Information

Please submit your reserves request at least three weeks before classes begin to allow sufficient time to process materials, and to purchase titles not owned by the library. Visit the UCSC calendars page for more information on academic dates.

To ensure Reserves materials are available to students by the beginning of classes, Course Reserves lists must be received by:

  • Wednesday, March 6, 2024 for Spring Quarter 2024 
  • Tuesday, May 29, 2024 for Summer Sessions 2024

How to Submit a Request

To submit a request for book reserves at both McHenry and the Science & Engineering Library, please use our online Book Reserves request form.

For media reserves, please use the Media Reserves request form.

Loan Periods

Reserve items can go out on one of the following three loan periods:

  • 2-hour
  • 24-hour
  • 72-hour

For larger classes, we encourage instructors to utilize the 2-hour loan period, as it maximizes the number of students who will be able to gain access to the material. If an item is requested for more than one course reserves list, it will automatically be listed under the shorter loan rule requested.

Types of Reserve Materials

Items commonly placed on Reserves at the Circulation/Reserves desk include, but are not limited to:

  • textbooks and other monographs
  • lab keys
  • homework/solutions
  • book chapters
  • journal articles
  • music scores

Other items such as videos, DVDs, and CDs can be made available via the Media Desk in McHenry Library.

Placing Personal Copies on Reserve

The library accepts personal copies of books and other materials for reserves. Instructors are cautioned to make this decision with care as items may be lost or damaged by borrowers. The reserves staff will use tape on the spine and front of the book in order to label it for library lending. Unless requested to be placed on permanent reserve, personal items will be returned through campus mail at the end of the quarter.

Permanent Reserves

Items can be placed on permanent reserve as long as they are on reserve for a course that is taught 2 or more times per academic year. The Reserves unit will review this collection every 2-3 years to ensure that it is current and still being used. For more specific information about permanent reserves, please email the reserves unit at bookreserves@ucsc.edu.

Placing Electronic Books on Reserve

As long as the University Library owns access to an e-book, it can be added to a Course Reserves list. Putting an e-book on a reserve list does not limit the check out period of the digital title (as with physical copies on reserve), but allows students of that class a simple and straightforward method of finding the title. 

If you are planning to use a library-owned e-book for any of your classes, let us know. We can work together to ensure that the borrowing options will be suitable for your class size.

For more information on the University Library's collection of e-books, please visit the E-Books at UCSC page.

Canvas

The University Library does not offer an electronic reserves service. To make PDFs and other digital items available to your students, please refer to the University's Canvas page

Textbook Affordability

With education costs on the rise, considering textbook affordability is an opportunity for us to support our students. For some ideas on how to make textbooks affordable for your students, please visit the library's Affordable Textbooks page

Copyright Law and Course Reserves

We adhere to the UC Copyright Guidelines for Fair Use. Any materials submitted that are not in compliance will not be placed on reserve and will be returned to the instructor.

Due to copyright restrictions, the Course Reserves Team is not able to put items owned by other institutions on reserve at our institution.