UCLA’s libraries are home to over 12 million print and electronic books. But have you ever tried finding them?
Finding books online is easy enough. You go on the UCLA library website and just put the ISBN into the search bar. Or if you have Bruin One Access, you barely even need to search for them — you can find them through your course website. But finding a book in person is a different story, and it can be really helpful to know exactly how to do it.
So whether you can’t find an online copy of a book or just like the feeling of flipping through pages in a physical book, it can be helpful to know how to check one out at the UCLA library and (in my case) confusing to know where to start.
Despite being in my second year at UCLA, my first time checking out a book was last quarter. I didn’t have Bruin One Access and I didn’t want to buy a physical copy, so naturally I decided to go to the library thinking it would be intuitive, right?
Wrong. The first place I checked for my book was was Charles E. Young Research Library. I checked the UCLA library website ahead of time and it said that one copy of a book I needed was available there. When I clicked on how to locate the book, it just gave me a string of seemingly arbitrary numbers and letters. This being my first time there, I asked someone at the front desk how to find the book. In my head, I thought they would get up from their desk and walk me to the book. Why I expected that, I’m not sure. UCLA libraries are huge places, and someone needs to man those desks. The employee said that my book was on the third floor, so I could take the elevator and then look for my book. They told me that the bookcases were all labeled with a one or two letter code that corresponded with the code I had found for the book on the UCLA website. They explained that this was a “call number” and the first two letters would tell me what bookcase to look for and then I would use the other numbers in that call number to locate the book within the bookcase. I was baffled but nodded, pretending I understood, and headed up the elevator to the third floor.
I became quickly aware that I was hopelessly out of my depth within about 30 seconds. I felt like I was doing laps around the room, running in circles like a dog at a park. There was a map by the elevator that was supposed to show where all the bookcases were and what letter code they corresponded to, but my directionally challenged self couldn’t even follow that.
After about 10 minutes, I found the book — its label on the spine matched the call number perfectly. And lo and behold, it was … not even the right one. It turned out the book was mislabeled — it was a different book by the same author. Defeated, I went down the stairs and told the employee about the labeling error and then headed out the door.
However, there was one other place that I could look — the UCLA library website said that my books were also available at Powell Library.
I headed to the second floor of the library and approached the help desk because if the day had taught me anything, it was that I needed help. I asked them how to locate the book and they said that I would be able to find it on the ground floor of the building.
I took the elevator down to the ground floor, and, after a few minutes of confusion, I found the corresponding letter code on the outside of the bookcase and was able to locate the book, along with a few others I needed that happened to be next to it.
Finally victorious, I walked back upstairs and checked out the books at the desk. Unable to fit all of the massive volumes in my backpack, I slung two under my arm and headed back up the hill.
All in all, my first experience checking out a book was … rough to say the least. However, I don’t think it needs to be that way for everyone because if you know how to read the call numbers and ask for help, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for.
This quarter, I tried again, and I’m happy to report that it went fairly smoothly. I did still go to the help desk and I was still a little confused, but I was able to find and check out my book within five minutes, so my experience definitely improved.
For all of the new Bruins out there or those who have simply never checked out a book at the library before, I’d recommend first seeing whether the book you want is available by searching it up on the UCLA library website, and filtering the search by the UCLA library you want to pick it up from. Screenshot the call number the website will provide and use it to find the bookcase your book is in. The call number will also inform you what shelf in the bookcase your book is located on, in addition to where in that shelf to look.
If you are checking out a book for the first time, I recommend accessing the University Studies Library Guide beforehand, which will tell you how to read a call number and how to use it to find a book. And if all else fails, there’s always library staff to provide assistance, which I’m sure I’ll be utilizing in the future.
