Q. Do you have the textbook for my class?

Possibly. The Thompson Library generally does not keep textbooks. Sometimes instructors put textbooks and articles on Course Reserves. You can look them up on the search box on the Thompson Library homepage (3rd tab).

Using the author or title, you can also look in the Library Catalog to see if the library owns a particular book.

The library makes no effort to buy textbooks, and in fact, generally avoids buying them. Textbooks are designed for classroom use and are presumed to present the state-of-the-art of a field. They can go dangerously out of date very quickly.

Feel free to ask a librarian for help with this or anything else.