Browsing Books On Our Shelves
On the second floor of the library (turn right at top of stairs), the entire "P" section of books is focused on literature and language. These can be searched online in Primo (which contains our book catalog).
For browsing purposes, the Library of Congress call numbers for literature are:
PA Greek & Roman literature (and languages)
PB-PH European languages
PE English language
PG Russian literature
PN General literature
PQ French, Italian, & Spanish Literature
PR British literature
PS American literature
PT German literature
PZ Juvenile literature
There are other subdivisions for literature and language from other countries.
If you find a book you are interested in, try "shelf browsing" in the library by seeing what is next to the book. You can also "shelf browse" online by looking at book suggestions given by Primo.
Did you know? If you are a distance student, Interlibrary Loan can send you our paper books or scan pages for you.
Borrowing Books From Other Libraries
You are not limited to the books we own!
To search beyond our library, search in our main system, Primo, and you will see suggested books from partner libraries.
Then, click Get it for Me From Other Libraries to get a book mailed to you, or Request PDF Digitization to have a chapter copied.
To look in libraries near you for books, try WorldCat.org, which searches library catalogs by location.
Often, inexpensive e-books are available on Amazon.com, and book previews are available at Google Books.
Free classics are available in open access databases like Project Gutenberg and Hathi Trust.
E-Books
Free books online & library e-book databases:
- Directory of Open Access Books This link opens in a new window
Provides free online access to full text, peer-reviewed books published under an Open Access license. - Project Gutenberg This link opens in a new windowFree full texts of classic literature and old books.
- Internet Archive This link opens in a new window
Vast collection of digitzed books & other media you can check out after creating a free account.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Full online book access to +5.5 million texts. - Christian Classics Ethereal Library This link opens in a new window
Provides free access to a wide variety of Christian classics.
- Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts This link opens in a new window
Full-text of principal works by Protestant writers in the 16th and 17th centuries.
- Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Full-text ebook platform. Includes Library selections and the Academic Complete subscription: quality multidisciplinary content from key publishers. 230,000+ titles.
- eBook Academic (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
A full-text ebook collection covering many academic subjects and featuring content from leading publishers and university presses. 240,000+ titles.
- eBook Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Full-text ebooks selected by the Library. 70,000+ titles.
- JSTOR ebooks This link opens in a new window
Full-text scholarly ebooks from many disciplines. Strongest in language & literature, history, and political science. 32,000+ titles.
Remember to narrow results by item type.
- Oxford Academic This link opens in a new window
Selected handbooks and scholarly works from Oxford University Press. 3200 titles.
- eBooks (Gale) This link opens in a new window
"Who's Who Among African Americans", "Contemporary Theatre, Film and TV" (CFTT), Religion, Nursing & Allied Health, Alternative Medicine, Genetic Disorders & Cancer, "Twayne's" &" Scribner Writer Series", "Early Jewish Literature"
- ABC-CLIO eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
Full-text ebooks on varied topics, including business, psychology, geography/world cultures, security studies, and politics. 190 titles.
Online Video Collections
Note: Our Audio-visual items can be found on the first floor near the bound periodicals.
