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Q & A

Textbook Lookup

You want to see the textbooks and other courseware that instructors and departments either require or recommend for your classes at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. For that reason, you do not search for individual books by ISBN, author, title, or subject. Instead, you view a class book list.

Textbook Look-Up: Use the link below or navigate Home > Books & Courseware > Student Services. First, select a term. Second, select your classes by department abbreviation, course number, and section number from pull-down lists. Example: ENGR 400 01. Textbook Look-Up does not display ISBN, edition & year, or publisher; but does display books available for rental at El Corral Bookstore.
PASS (Plan a Student Schedule): Access PASS from your MyCalPoly account. PASS displays the textbooks that a class requires or recommends. Displayed information includes ISBN, author, title, El Corral Bookstore’s NEW price, and perhaps comments. Without an ISBN, edition & year and publisher are displayed. Guest PASS does not display class books.

Textbook Look-Up and PASS: Your class book list is as timely, complete, and accurate as the information that El Corral Bookstore receives from instructors and departments. All information is subject to change or correction at any time. A class might later be added, reassigned, or cancelled. The instructor might change a class book list. Our supplier might raise or lower an item’s price. We will honor the listed price of an item added to the shopping cart – unless the price is clearly a substantial and unwitting error that we have not yet noticed (e.g., $110.00 inadvertently keyed as $11.00).
Textbook Look-Up and PASS: For those coursepacks that we produce on behalf of instructors and departments, we list the author as CORRAL and the publisher as EL CORRAL PUBLISHING.
Textbook Look-Up: Your class book list could include some course kits, lab kits, and other supplies. However, most course supplies are not included on the class book list. For more course supplies, go to Cal Poly Supplies at this website or visit El Corral Bookstore’s Supply Shop.
Textbook Look-Up: NEW or USED, a price does not indicate the book’s current or projected availability. If both NEW and USED are $0.00, neither is in stock and we do not yet know the prices. If only NEW is $0.00, NEW is not available. If only USED is $0.00, USED is not available.
Textbook Look-Up: If a book is listed for rental without a fee, the book is not in stock and we do not yet know the fee.

A suggested item should display a comment that explains the suggestion: cheaper alternative, value package, reference item, study aid, or useful supply item.
As a cheaper alternative to a required or recommended textbook, we might suggest an older edition. We believe that the instructor will accept the older edition for class use. If we are mistaken, you may return the older edition.
As a cheaper alternative to a required or recommended textbook, we might suggest a used book in such condition that it has no return privilege or buyback value. The trade-off? You save money on the purchase.
As a value package, we might offer a required or recommended textbook with supplementary materials at a bundle price lower than the total price of the components.

Reserve your textbooks by signing up on line for Textbook Reservation. (Refer to “Textbook Reservation” in the left index.)
Order only NEW for delivery off campus by adding an item on your class book list to the shopping cart. (Refer to “Textbook Shopping” in the left index.)
Shop the shelves at our campus bookstore.