Reducing Textbook Expenses: University of Iowa Student Government Approves Funding to Expand Library Course-Reserve Program

From The Daily Iowan:

The University of Iowa Student Government approved funding on Tuesday to bolster UI Libraries’ course-reserve system with a goal of alleviating students’ textbook expenses as a part of a textbook-affordability pilot program.
UISG decided in a unanimous vote to allocate $20,000 over three years for the library to buy materials for its course-reserve system.
The system allows students to check out books for classes and lets faculty request print and electronic course materials to be put on reserve for their students to use throughout the semester at no cost.
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The initiative is part of a larger pilot program between the UI Libraries and UISG to tackle the rising costs of textbooks.
The funding will also be used to keep textbooks on reserve for certain high-traffic classes — ones with 200 or more students and if the book costs $200 or more, [scholarly communications librarian Mahrya] Burnett said.

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Filed under: Funding, Libraries, News, Scholarly Communications