A recent Emerald article on high textbook prices did a good job of pointing out that profit-hungry publishers contribute significantly to the rising costs of getting an education (“OSPIRG reports on high textbook costs,” ODE, Feb. 14, 2007).
While the University Libraries can’t do anything directly to change this fact, we are trying in several ways to help students stretch their textbook dollars. For example, the library teams up with the University Bookstore and University faculty members each term to make hundreds of required texts available through course reserves. This winter term alone, the bookstore supplied the library with 90 textbooks, all of which have been placed on reserve for short-term checkout.
We also encourage faculty members to place their personal copies of textbooks on reserve; and, of course, library-owned required reading material is placed on reserve as well. These combined efforts raise the number of reserved books available to students each term to well above 3,000.
Through our electronic reserves program, the library will scan articles at no charge for instructors who want to offer their students an online reading option. The e-reserves program lets University students access required reading material online, free of charge, 24 hours a day. Thus far this winter term we have 105 courses with materials on electronic reserves, representing 1,874 individual online documents.
For more information on these programs, contact Laura Willey in the library’s Access Services unit at (541) 346-1915.
Ron Renchler
Communications Director, UO libraries