LibAnswers: Ask A Librarian FAQ

Borrowing books from the Cabrillo College Library is easy and fine free! Sign up for your library card at the Cabrillo Library's Check Out Desk or the Watsonville Integrated Learning Center.

Loan Periods (how long an item can be checked out):

Books from our general collection, new books, Watsonville ILC browsing collection items, and graphing calculators:

• Students, faculty, staff, board members, and retirees: semester-long loans 
• Community users: three-week loans (cannot borrow calculators)

DVDs:

• All users: 1 week

The materials listed above will renew automatically for students, faculty, staff, board members, and retirees. If your account is expired because you are no longer a Cabrillo student, if the item has been requested by another library user, if you have replacement fees on your library account for lost or missing books, or if you have overdue items that can't be renewed, renewals will be blocked. 

Automatic renewals are not available for community users or for materials checked out from the CTC, Peace Library, Photo Lab, STEM Center, or the HUB.

Digital Textbooks:

The library's digital textbooks have 2-hour loan periods and are renewable unless others are waiting in line for them. Every textbook has a maximum user cap. These caps very based on how many copies of an item the library owns. If a book is already in use by the maximum number of users, we highly encourage students to get in line for the item by signing up for the wait list. 

Physical Textbooks:

Some physical textbooks and other Course Reserves have 48 hour loan periods and will automatically renew unless someone else is waiting in line to use them. If your textbook does not automatically renew, you will receive email notifications about it. For more information about course reserves and textbooks, please visit this FAQ page and guide to searching for textbooks on reserve.

How to get in line to use a physical textbook:

• You can get in line to use a physical textbook by placing a request.
• Requests can be made in person at the Cabrillo Library's Check Out desk, using the Ask A Librarian form, or by calling (831) 479-6484 during operating hours.
• You will receive a notice via email when the requested item is available for you to check out.
• You cannot place requests on items that you already have checked out.
• You cannot place multiple requests on duplicate copies of the same item.
• We highly encourage you to use requests to share textbooks!

Library users can also get in line on a waiting list to access one of our online textbooks when the physical textbooks are already in use. We encourage students to do so!