In accordance with its mission to “create and maintain accessible, inclusive, and culturally affirming spaces, services, collections, and educational opportunities," the Beneficial-Hodson Library is committed to ensuring that students have access to the materials they need for their research and coursework. Research has shown that the high cost of course materials is a barrier to student success, particularly among Pell-eligible and first-gen students. Through a combination of electronic subscriptions, one-time purchases, and creative collaborations with teaching faculty, the library strives to address equity issues with regard to access to necessary course materials.
The academic publishing industry, however, makes this work increasingly difficult. Digital versions of most commercial textbooks are rarely sold to libraries at any cost; when they are, they are sold under prohibitively expensive single-user licenses that limit access to the material. Textbook publishers' business models, which sell high-cost books that undergo frequent revisions and have restrictive licensing, including digital access codes that prevent sharing and reuse, rely on students as captive consumers. These models, which exploit both student consumers and faculty authors, prevent academic libraries from creating sustainable, inclusive programs that would provide students with free access to the course materials they need.
Confronting these systemic issues requires more than a library budget. This policy represents the library’s attempt to address the growing barrier of costly course materials through a combination of education, incentivization, collaboration, and targeted purchases.
For the purposes of this policy, a textbook is defined as a work that has many or all of the following characteristics:
Course materials, for the purpose of this policy, are books and other media considered “required reading/viewing” for a specific course that do not meet the criteria of a commercial textbook. Course materials may have value outside of the context of the course; for example: a Shakespeare class might require a copy of Macbeth, which would be classified as course material, but not a textbook.
Open Educational Resources, or OER, are educational “resources, tools, and practices that are free of legal, financial, and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared, and adapted in the digital environment.” Library liaisons are available to consult with teaching faculty who would like to incorporate OER into their courses. To set up a consultation, email your liaison librarian.
Faculty who are interested in implementing or creating open resources in a course should consider applying for an Academic Innovation Grant to aid in that process.
Course packs are digital materials that are composed of some combination of library materials, open access materials, and materials that have been cleared through Copyright Clearance Center. Instructors can work with their liaison librarian to create online course packs in Blackboard.
For the reasons we’ve outlined above, most libraries can’t or won’t purchase textbooks for their collection. The Beneficial-Hodson Library will purchase a copy of a textbook to be placed on course reserve (or, when possible, a digital license) only under the following conditions:
For textbooks priced between $51 and $150, the following criteria must be met:
For textbooks priced between $151 and $250, the following criteria must be met:
The decision to purchase a textbook that costs more than $250 must be discussed between the department chair and the library director.
Budget permitting and upon request, the library will purchase one copy of any course material (excluding commercial textbooks) to be included in its collection and placed on course reserve.
When possible, the library will purchase digital licenses to course materials. Multiple-user digital licenses are costlier than print, but they reach a larger number and meet the accessibility needs of more of our students.
First, make sure the library does not already own the material you want to request by searching for your title in OneSearch.
To request that the library purchases course materials for your class, fill out and submit the course reserve form and click "Request for Purchase." Purchasing and cataloguing take time; please submit all requests at least three weeks before the beginning of the semester.