Nice Girl Mean Thoughts

especially if you’re a member of a SUNY college.

This is the deal. I went to college a SUNY college and was too cheap/poor to pay $200 or more a book per class so I did a bit of research and found out the following.

Go to your college library and ask if they participate in the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) program. You can borrow books/DVD’s/film/anything for longer than through your own college library and there are several “textbook only” libraries within the Interlibrary Loan program. Finally (in most cases) YOU don’t have to pay ANY late fees!! I borrowed all my necessary textbooks for a WHOLE SEMESTER every year! Even though the textbooks I borrowed (from textbook libraries around the country) did rack up mucho dinero in fines, my school paid the fines in the end, not me. The thing is that if you rent a book (or books <you can borrow several at a time>) through the program and keep it for a long enough time you will build up fines and since technically your school is borrowing the book(s) from another school, not you, your school pays the fines. After almost a semester worth of fines your school will yell at you to return the book but you will pay NO FINE! If  you have the books for extra long your school might eventually yell at you via a letter threatening to hold your grades. (Only happened once to me! And I returned the book and all was well).

I can’t guarantee the Interlibrary Loan still works this way, but give it a shot. You might save thousands. I did! I wasted the cash on beer and food.

Let’s review:

Step 1: Go to your college library and ask if they participate in Interlibrary Loan or some such program.

Step 2: If so, search the Interlibrary Loan data system for your needed textbooks.

Step 3: Ask someone at the library if you’ll be fined if the book is a week late. (Just to double check. Don’t say 4 months late, they might not like that.)

Step 4: If all is good and you get the book. Use it for class and turn it in when your done OR if you’re sent a letter by YOUR school library to return the book or you’ll get in big trouble.

Step 5: Spread the word and enjoy this system for the rest of your college career!

Wiki info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlibrary_loan

Best of luck and if you get yelled at don’t tell anyone I told you to do it. No one wants to get sued.

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