Alissa Droog, Dee Anna Phares and Meredith Ayers – subject specialist librarians who serve in the College of Education – have launched “Go Beyond the Stacks: Library Tips and Tricks,” a regular feature in the Ed News with short and actionable pieces of relevant and useful information to maximize teaching, learning and research. This is the third installment.
Why Affordable?
Having affordable course textbooks and other materials is important to students. At NIU, the average annual cost of textbooks and supplies per student is $1,400 (CollegeSimply). Given that over 95% of undergraduates received financial aid during the 2019/2020 school year (CollegeSimply), affordable course materials are essential for our students.
Information from Northern Illinois Tuition & Cost, CollegeSimply.
What can faculty and instructors do?
- Check out our guide to finding free, open and affordable course resources. The guide recommends where to look for open textbooks, free video, images or other materials for use in your courses. We also have some recommended subject-specific free textbooks.
- Recommend a Textbook for NIU Libraries: NIU Libraries and the Textbook Task Force purchase some required textbooks based on faculty recommendations. Physical textbooks purchased through this program will be put on two-hour reserve at the Circulation Desk for student use in the library and eBooks are made available to online to anyone at NIU.
- Talk to your subject specialist librarian. They can help look for alternative resources to high-cost textbooks and suggest options like eBooks, journal articles, etc.
Questions? Contact your Subject Specialist Librarian!
References
- CollegeSimply (n.d.). Northern Illinois University – net price, tuition, cost to attend, financial aid and student loans. CollegeSimply. Retrieved November 30, 2021, from https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/illinois/northern-illinois-university/price/.
