How To Find Textbooks for Free, or Close to It
There's no hiding the fact that tuition alone won't get you through school. Between lab fees, material costs, rent, food money, and hopefully something for Friday nights, the last thing you want to worry about is a $500 textbook bill. While it may take some extra sniffing around, we think you'll find that it's worth it to check out these resources before you head to the bookstore. And of course, always check with your professor to see if the library has any copies on reserve.
Project Gutenberg
Founded in 1971 by Michael Hart, this is the oldest virtual library, specializing in the collection of critical cultural works. Use PG to read works of Western literature for free.
Bartleby
Its title inspired by a Herman Melville short story, Bartleby specializes in classic literature and reference works, such as encyclopedias. Again, this is a resource you can access gratis.
Google Books
Ever wish you could just check out a book in advance of buying it? Google Books lets you do just that. It's a great way to test-drive a number of textbooks, even ones that are hard to find, before laying down your dollars.
Connexions
Have a class on Sound Reasoning, or Advanced Algebra? Connexions is a Creative Commons page that allows you to access reams of free and useful info. An open education site, you can download the content to any mobile device.
The Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
This consortium specializes in providing free and open textbook resources, with a focus on higher education. There are currently more than 500 textbooks available to peruse in full, in everything from nursing and art to languages and sociology.
Flatworld Knowledge
As the world's biggest producer of free and open textbooks, Flatworld has saved 115,000 students more than $20 million on pricey academic resources. Professors can also lend their impressive knowledge to the creation of a unique textbook resource here.
Textbook Revolt
If you need a financial revolution aimed at your textbooks, join up the movement here. At Textbook Revolt, you can rent books you need at competitive rates, then just return them at the end of the semester.
Bookins.com
Bookins apparently has more books than Barnes & Noble, and you just might be able to trade in your current books for a title you need as soon as possible. You don't have to contact anyone, and Bookins actually pays for you to send in your books; you pay just $5 to receive a book in exchange.
Swap.com
Exchange not only books at Swap.com, but also games, movies, and music too. All you need to do is post some items you're willing to trade to their site; that allows you to barter for more desirable items for free.
Amazon
Many of the resources we have spotlighted here are giving Amazon, the juggernaut that it is, a major run for its money. Nevertheless, Amazon's used books business is reliable, often extremely cheap, and features speedy delivery.
CourseSmart
This website, focusing on e-textbooks and digital course materials, lets you either find and buy textbooks, or redeem materials purchased at a bookstore, in order to use them for a rented period of time.