LibGuides: Online Library Resources: Free Textbook Options

Announcements

The West Los Angeles College Library is physically closed.
Reference service from a librarian is available online (see the Contact Librarians tab above).
Browse through more tabs on this page for access to databases, eBooks, and more.
Library materials that are already checked out are now due Monday, June 8.
E-mail the library with any questions you have at library @wlac.edu
Click here for the latest information from the District.

Free Textbook Options

Below is a list of frequently used WLAC course reserves that are currently available for free through Vital Source. Students and faculty can access online versions of the textbooks during this time. The Vital Source login page allows students and staff to check out up to 7 textbooks using a school e-mail address. WLAC Library Techs have included VBIDs in the list below to make your searching easier:

Textbook	VBID
America: A Concise History Vol. 1	9781319119867
American Government and Politics Today	9781337670173
Business English (12th ed.)	9781305887107
California Real Estate Practice (9th ed.)	ETC Books (publisher) does not offer eBooks
California Real Estate Principles (16th ed.)	ETC Books (publisher) does not offer eBooks
Essentials of Physical Anthropology (10th ed.)	9781305886988
Health : the Basics	9780134814506
Human Anatomy and Physiology (10th ed.)	9780134017808
Introductory Chemistry in the Laboratory	9781337655873
Invitation to the Life Span (3rd ed.)	9781319084035
Medical Terminology (8th ed.)	9781496346919
Nutrition	9781285785981
Pre-Calculus (6th ed.)	1111793689
Statistics (this semester, 5th ed.)	9780134462134 or 9780321831071
The Exceptional Child (8th ed.)	9781285972596
Trigonometry (6th ed.)	9781285309873

Vital Source

Free instant access to thousands of textbooks (other than what is listed above).

Students with textbooks questions can contact Vital Source via ticket request, phone, text, or chat. Contact info can be found at the following web page: https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Step-by-step Guide to Accessing Vital Source Books

Courtesy of Aleah Kropholler of Cabrillo College.

Below are links to other publishers, platforms, and resources for free online textbooks. This information has been gathered by ELAC Librarians and WLAC librarians, technicians and instructional assistants:

RedShelf

Free access thru June 24th, 2020 for non-profit, semester based colleges and universities (limits apply).
The RedShelf Student/Customer Support web page can be found at https://solve.redshelf.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000384354-Student-Customer-Support

Cengage

Support for faculty and students affected by Coronavirus closures. Note: (If Cengage is your textbook publisher) We have heard from faculty that if you contact Cengage directly they will provide you with the eText for your course.

Pearson - MyLab

Some titles can be made available through Vital Source, Redshelf, and MyLab. Titles focused on Computer Sciences and Information Systems.

Free Resources on Project MUSE

In response to the challenges created by the global public health crisis of COVID-19, Project MUSE is pleased to support its participating publishers in making scholarly content temporarily available for free on our platform.

List of Publishers Offering Free Online Access

Read-only Google doc compilation of publishers opening access to their textbooks.