Academic Blasphemy: Providing Access to Textbooks in the Library

As textbook prices and tuition continue to soar, academic libraries offering textbooks as part of their circulating or reserves collections are valuable contributors to student recruitment and retention. Students need affordable and convenient access to textbooks for reasons including delayed financial aid, personal economic hardships, and just-in-time use. Textbooks at the library can fill those needs. Criss Library’s Summer 2017 Textbook Reserves Pilot Project brought together a team from several departments across campus, selected textbooks for a small number of general education courses, and marketed the program to our student success outreach partners. The goal of the project was to fulfill UNO’s mission of an urban metropolitan university to provide student-centered support of a diverse student body through textbook cost savings. In this presentation, the presenters will share preliminary results of the project, collection development and access services policies, collaboration strategies with the bookstore and other departments, and assessment methods