In any public library (in the US, anyway), you can check out books from every library that is part of the inter-library loan service. This include all (I think) other public libraries as well as a healthy number of college libraries. You're not even limited to books!
Have a chat with your local librarian. You might be pleasantly surprised at how deep that resource goes.
I'm aware of that. Nonetheless, I can say definitively that the South Central Library System of Wisconsin (which includes Madison) does not include the University of Wisconsin libraries, and the holdings of the latter are vastly superior, at least in terms of academic-related material. I've not been pleasantly surprised.
Have a chat with your local librarian. You might be pleasantly surprised at how deep that resource goes.