Textbooks and Library Course Reserves

It is common knowledge in higher education that textbook affordability is a persistent problem for students. Textbook costs have outpaced inflation, and many students are ill prepared to handle this financial hurdle. In some cases they skip out on registering for a course because they lack the means to purchase the required materials.

The movement towards Open Education Resources, educational material that can be freely shared or repurposed, or OER, promises a long term solution, and initiatives like the Open Textbook Network are worth keeping up with. Learning Management Systems, like Brightspace, are also helping to alleviate the problem because digital files and links can be posted to a course site if they are licensed or meet fair use requirements under copyright.

In the meantime, college and university libraries continue to provide students with convenient access to textbooks and other required print and multimedia material through course reserves.

We encourage you to bring any additional copies of course textbooks that are available to you to be placed on Course Reserve in the Library. Students appreciate the convenience, and the textbooks that are on reserve get a lot of use. For example, one Human Services text, placed on reserve by Professor Sarai Rivera, was used fifty-five times by students during fall semester 2017.

The availability of a textbook on Library Reserve can offset the stress of not being able to afford the purchase and help promote student success. Accounting professors, Dan Jones and Paul Piwko recently secured copies of a required text, and placed it on reserve. Paul notes, “I know of at least one student - hard working, committed, but without a textbook - for whom access to a text has made a big difference.”

To request materials to be placed on Reserve, submit a Course Reserve Request Form, or contact Robin Maddalena at r.maddalena@assumption.edu or 508.767.7271.  Course Reserves can be found at the Front Desk filed by the professor's last name.  Students can use Reserve materials anywhere in the Library.