How do I find a book and check it out?

Note: If you are an Old Dominion University distance learning student, you may request the book (whether owned by the ODU Libraries or not!) by using this form. The Interlibrary Loan Service will send the book(s) to your site.

In ODU's Perry  Library, books that are available for circulation are on the 3rd and 4th floors. They are arranged in call number order, using the Library of Congress classification scheme. Books whose call numbers begin with A or any other letter up through N are on the 3rd floor; books whose call numbers begin with P or any other letter(s) up through Z are on the 4th floor. 

If you wish to check out a book, look up the book in the catalog and jot down the location and call number. If the book is listed as "available" you may go to the appropriate floor, find your book, and take it to the 1st floor circulation desk, together with your current ODU ID card, ODU Alumni card, or Virginia Tidewater Consortium card. For more information about circulation privileges, telephone the Circulation Department at 757-683-4154.

Also, books may be checked out from the Hofheimer Art Library in the Fine & Performing Arts Building at 49th Street and Elkhorn Avenue. 

Books from the reference collections are for consultation in the library and are not available for check out. Photocopiers are available. 

Beyond the ODU Library catalog

In addition to ODU's library catalog, you may look at other library catalogs on the web

You might prefer to check the FirstSearch database called WorldCat instead. This way, you can access over 30 million citations of publications dating back as far as the 11th century -- and you can check to see which libraries own them. The contents of this database reflect the holdings of libraries which are members of OCLC, a huge international network. 

If you are interested in seeing which books published in the United States are presently in print, you may want to check the database called Books in Print.