This past academic year, I’ve had over 40 required books for my classes. Through the St. Olaf Bookstore, this would’ve cost me hundreds of dollars. But instead of purchasing or renting my books, I turned to one of the best resources available to St. Olaf students: the Northfield Public Library (NPL).
As most students know, the NPL offers library cards to all Carleton and St. Olaf students. But what most students don’t know is that through the NPL, card holders have access to MNlink, which is an incredibly expansive interlibrary loan database. Through MNlink, you can borrow books and other library materials from almost any library in the state of Minnesota, including university libraries. And it isn’t just limited to novels; you can borrow anything from textbooks to DVDs. Once you make a request through MNlink, the item is shipped to the NPL, where you pick it up. It’s completely free of charge to do this. I’ve been using MNlink ever since it was released a couple years ago, and it has saved me from buying and renting dozens of books.
Although you cannot renew interlibrary loans, you can return the book and borrow it again. I keep a spreadsheet of my library loans so I can make sure that I have the book borrowed during the time that I need it for my class. MNlink is very reliable, and I haven’t ever had an issue with getting my books on time.
Another helpful resource that is offered through NPL is Kanopy. Kanopy is a streaming service that offers movies and documentaries, which are free for NPL cardholders. During this past fall semester, one of my professors required us to watch a documentary in our own time that was only available to rent online for $10. I found the documentary through Kanopy, and watched it for free. St. Olaf Library has some select movies and documentaries from Kanopy on Catalyst as well, but not as many as NPL offers.
If you don’t have an NPL card, go get one! It’s free! The library is located at 210 Washington Street, right across Division Street from The Blast. A NPL card is truly a game-changer for getting required course materials.
