Are There Free Textbooks?

I have a huge 130 lb Great Dane named Casper, brindle with a white nose and toes. He is pretty, friendly, and a great conversation starter since he is the closest thing to a tiger most people get to see. Well, I was putting up some flyers today with him and I lured in a guy asking me if there was any such thing as a free textbook. He was curious to know as I told him of my past struggles with paying for books, and I mentioned the one year I didn't buy any books at all. He asked how that was possible so I decided to post all the possible ways you can get around it on here. So, here is to no bs and not spending a dime! For this to work, however, it takes a lot of work. You have to give more time to your education and networking with students in your classes. Those two things will get you very far.

So, let's look at the resources at hand to get around buying a textbook.

The Library

Not many people are aware of this but your school library, free for attending your rather expensive education, is the most valuable resource at your disposal. It has virtually any subject you need information on as well as your class textbook on shelf to use! Yep, there is a free textbook at your library. It depends on each of your campus libraries as far as the stipulations for borrowing. Mine would only allow a two hour check-out for most books and they couldn't leave the building. The late fees for these books were much higher than the standard rate which tends to deter thievery. So far, it works. 

Network

The most underrated resource though is going to be your fellow classmates. By this, I do not mean steal their books when they aren't being attentive. Also, do not borrow a friends for a few days and keep it indefinitely. Those are prime ways for you to destroy your network and therefore valuable assets you can use along the way for help. No, we cannot have that.

Instead, I would encourage you to form study groups that meet once a week to help each other out. What I mean by this is to offer to help them out with a particular subject that people are finding difficult to understand. Whether that means tutoring or accompanying them to the tutor center* to help you both understand, do it! People want to connect and it is up to you to make it. Start relying on your outgoing nature and willingness to help. And if you don't have those qualities, develop them. They are easy to acquire and will make not only college but work after college so much more lucrative and fulfilling.

So once your connections are made, then ever so kindly ask to borrow their book while you guys are studying or copy some homework questions. Be smart and be professional about it. You want to keep these relationships as you do not know when they will come in handy.

World Wide Web

One of the greatest ways to study for your classes is to use the internet! In fact, I learned some html** to help make this blog and I am now picking up some Java for some additional nifty website making. There are plenty of free learning websites so if you do come across one that tries to charge you, run the other way. RUN! Khan academy is a highly recommended website that is free to use and has everything useful to brain surgeon students and lawyer associates plus some normal stuff in between. Take advantage of the largest collection of information stored online, for free, and get away with just paying close attention to lecture and supplementing it with stuff online. You would be surprised on how easy it would be to maintain a 4.0 on that. In fact, making anything less might start to seem silly after a little while.

So next time you want to take control of your money and education, you can also think about trying this route. It is very much possible, granted a little more work, but your grades, scholarships, and parents will thank you. You might even thank you!

Thank you for reading and feel free to share with friends, family and anyone you think wants to save a few thousand dollars!

*There was a friend who felt very uncomfortable at the tutor center. So, I went along to give some confidence even though I didn't even have the class he needed help with.
**codecademy.com