Campus Community

Save Some Bucks on Books

Written by Jacob Smithers

April 4, 2023

A graphic of library books

The library is sharing their pro tips on finding affordable—even some free—course materials.

Today, textbooks, affordability and equity of access are on the minds of students, faculty and administrators at colleges and universities across the country.

Seattle University’s Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons believes that understanding the options available is of the greatest help to everyone involved and to this end has created Textbook Options webpages and references where users will find money-saving pro tips. 

These webpages profile relevant library and campus resources, detail online resources available to students and offers links to resources for locating open educational resources (OERs). OERs include textbooks, course materials, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers. Learn more.

Additionally, the site offers ways faculty can support students by helping to ease the burden of textbook costs many students face by selecting course materials that are available through the library’s collections or subscriptions or by selecting open access materials. Learn more.

The spring quarter, the library also launched the High-Cost Required Textbook Initiative. This pilot promises to provide data and information that will inform the development of future affordable textbook initiatives that save students money in a move to support affordability and access equity for all students.