Course literature

Reading lists

University programmes and courses often have long reading lists. These lists contain information about the books you need to buy and are available to you at the start of the programme or course. Books can be quite expensive, and can add up to several thousand Swedish kronor per semester. You can save a lot of money by buying second-hand books or borrowing them from the library.

Do not buy all your books on the first day, but do not wait too long either. Some of the books on the list are for reference only, so you may only need to consult them in the library. The cheapest option is to borrow books from the university libraries or from previous students of the programme or course. 

Borrowing from the library

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You can usually find the books on your reading list at your subject library. Books on reading lists can usually only be borrowed for 14 days from faculty libraries, so it is a good idea to plan when you want to borrow the book (i.e. at the beginning or end of the course). You can also reserve books if they are already on loan to someone else. Students are welcome to borrow books from any of the university libraries.

• Visit the Lund University Libraries website
• The library network at Lund University

Second-hand books

Another good way to save money is to buy used books. There are shops where you can buy and sell used academic books. There are also websites where you can buy used academic books.

Make sure that the book you buy is not full of notes. In some courses, you can take books with you to the exam. If there are notes in your books, you could be found guilty of cheating. Also check that you have the right edition of the book, as there are sometimes significant differences between editions.

A good guide price for a used book in very good condition is around 60% of the original price. A well-read copy should be less.

New books

When you buy new books, make sure you get the right editions. Bookshops may not always have the latest editions. Also check delivery times. A book that arrives a week after the exam is of little use.