Brown University Students Launch Textbook Lending Library for Low-Income Students

From The Brown Daily Herald:

The First Generation Low Income Partnership library, which launched at the beginning of the semester, aims to make textbooks accessible to those who are unable afford the cost of books, said coordinators Jonathan Jaramillo ’18 and Kevin Melendez ’16.

The library, located in the Sorensen Family Reading Room on the first floor of the Rockefeller Library, currently offers over 500 donated textbooks, covering a range of disciplines. Students can access a list of textbooks and check their availability via an online spreadsheet on the program’s Facebook page. Most books can be checked out on a semester-long basis.

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Melendez’s experience of relying on Brown libraries or resorting to alternative methods to avoid the high cost of textbooks is not unique, both organizers said.

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Jaramillo and Melendez, partially inspired by a similar program at Columbia, started a subcommittee of First-Gens@Brown in May to organize a completely independent, student-run program housed at the Rock.

Read the Complete Article

On a Related Note…IU Saves Students About $8 Million With Electronic Textbooks (via Indianapolis Star)

Started in 2012, the IU program has saved students about $8 million by making electronic textbooks available. Students are able to access their texts, which run about $35, via the Internet from mobile devices to computers. Users can highlight, take notes in and share the electronic text.

Hat Tip and Thank You For IU Story: Nate at The Digital Reader

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