{"id":16491,"date":"2026-02-10T17:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/?p=16491"},"modified":"2026-02-10T17:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:37:01","slug":"textbooks-too-expensive-how-the-library-can-and-cant-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/2026\/02\/10\/textbooks-too-expensive-how-the-library-can-and-cant-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Textbooks Too Expensive?\u00a0How the Library Can (and\u00a0Can\u2019t) Help\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Scrabble<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Guest post by Karen Kohn, Collections Analysis Librarian<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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For\u00a0almost\u00a0ten\u00a0years,\u00a0Temple\u00a0University Libraries\u00a0has been helping save students money by buying copies\u00a0of\u00a0textbooks\u00a0as\u00a0ebooks.\u00a0In the last three years,\u00a0estimated savings to students from library-licensed\u00a0etextbooks\u00a0average\u00a0$753,000\u00a0per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Temple University Libraries began purchasing etextbooks in 2017. Initially we only purchased books that had been assigned more than once, and only if we were able to get unlimited user licenses. When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, we loosened these restrictions out of a desire to provide as much electronic access as possible. In fall 2020 we purchased 148 textbooks, including some that only allowed a single user at a time. While we know the single-user licenses can be frustrating, we only purchase them in cases where a multiuser license is either unavailable or unaffordable. We believe that offering these books is better than the alternative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes it possible for the Libraries to provide etextbooks is our long-time partnership with the campus bookstore. For many years the staff at Barnes and Noble sent us a list each semester of books that faculty had adopted as course texts. When Follett took ownership of the store in 2024, we appreciated that their staff were willing to continue this partnership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While we try to provide access to as many textbooks as possible, we are typically only able to offer about\u00a0a third\u00a0of the books assigned in any given semester.\u00a0We provided electronic access to 32.86% of assigned texts in fall 2025 and 31.1% in spring 2026.\u00a0Quite often there is no\u00a0ebook\u00a0available for libraries to buy, as publishers only sell to individuals.\u00a0In some\u00a0cases\u00a0textbooks are\u00a0bundled with\u00a0online\u00a0homework systems<\/a>,\u00a0which are not sold to libraries.\u00a0Other\u00a0times,\u00a0the\u00a0books\u00a0are prohibitively expensive.\u00a0This semester, for instance, we declined to\u00a0purchase\u00a0a\u00a0book\u00a0that would\u2019ve cost over $1000 for a single-user license, which is twenty times what a print copy would cost!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ways to Find Your Textbook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A library\u00a0ebook\u00a0is only useful if students know that it is available. The\u00a0Libraries\u00a0promote our\u00a0etextbooks\u00a0in several ways. Our\u00a0Etextbooks\u00a0Available Through the Libraries<\/a>\u00a0page is\u00a0updated\u00a0at the start of each semester.\u00a0We also email faculty announcing that we have a copy of their textbook as a library\u00a0ebook\u00a0and\u00a0recommend\u00a0that they\u00a0link\u00a0to it in Canvas or\u00a0their\u00a0syllabus.\u00a0\u00a0Students\u00a0can also check the\u00a0library catalog<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If We Don’t Have Your Book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While we cannot always provide access to\u00a0textbooks\u00a0as\u00a0ebooks, we always want to help students reduce textbook costs!\u00a0If a textbook is not available as an\u00a0ebook, your professor can put a print copy on reserve in the library.\u00a0This allows students to borrow it for\u00a0short-term load\u00a0period\u00a0so that the class can\u00a0share.\u00a0Reserve requests need to be made by a faculty member in Canvas.\u00a0Instructions\u00a0for placing a request<\/a>\u00a0are on our website.\u00a0Also,\u00a0we recommend you\u00a0tell your professor you are having trouble paying for the homework and see if they have any suggestions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we cannot help with access to online homework systems. For financial\u00a0assistance\u00a0with homework systems or books that the\u00a0Libraries\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0provide, students can\u00a0apply for\u00a0the\u00a0Dr. Theresa Powell Student Emergency Aid Fund<\/a>\u00a0through the Dean of Students\u2019 office.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest post by Karen Kohn, Collections Analysis Librarian For\u00a0almost\u00a0ten\u00a0years,\u00a0Temple\u00a0University Libraries\u00a0has been helping save students money by buying copies\u00a0of\u00a0textbooks\u00a0as\u00a0ebooks.\u00a0In the last three years,\u00a0estimated savings to students from library-licensed\u00a0etextbooks\u00a0average\u00a0$753,000\u00a0per year.\u00a0 History Temple University Libraries began purchasing etextbooks in 2017. Initially we only purchased books that had been assigned more than … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35530,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-library-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16495,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16491\/revisions\/16495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/librarynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}