Student Perspectives on Textbook Affordability
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
7-4-2026 2:55 PM
End Date
7-4-2026 3:25 PM
Description
Join us as we share findings from a recent campus-wide survey at a mid-size regional R2 university exploring the impact of course material costs on students. We asked students to provide answers on how textbook costs affect their learning experiences, choices, and successes. This session will highlight key data, student voices, and showcase opportunities for faculty to make their courses more affordable and equitable through the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and other no-cost materials.
Author Bios
Ginelle Baskin is the Open Educational Resources Librarian at Middle Tennessee State University. She is passionate about textbook affordability and promoting OER on campus to students and faculty. She has initiated MTSU’s first faculty “Textbook Heroes Awards” for OER, which will be presented during 2026 Open Ed Week. This semester Ginelle also celebrates MTSU’s milestone of $3 million in student savings from Zero Textbook Cost courses.
Mary Ann Jones is Chair of the Middle Tennessee State University Library’s Collection Development & Management department where she oversees all aspects of the library’s collections, including the Library Textbook Program which purchases required course materials for MTSU courses across multiple disciplines. Mary Ann has been an advocate for OER and textbook affordability since her days at Mississippi State University as the Scholarly Communication Librarian and now continues this advocacy from a library leadership perspective.
Suzanne Mangrum is the Acquisitions Librarian at Middle Tennessee State University and the founder of the Library Textbook Program which she championed and started buying materials in 2019 to provide alternatives to purchasing textbooks. Since the beginning, Suzanne has been passionate about outreach to faculty so the library could provide access to required materials. Originally envisioned as print textbooks on reserve, the program has grown and now purchases multiple user eBooks for over 100 courses/year.
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Since March 17, 2026
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Apr 7th, 2:55 PM
Apr 7th, 3:25 PM
Student Perspectives on Textbook Affordability
Join us as we share findings from a recent campus-wide survey at a mid-size regional R2 university exploring the impact of course material costs on students. We asked students to provide answers on how textbook costs affect their learning experiences, choices, and successes. This session will highlight key data, student voices, and showcase opportunities for faculty to make their courses more affordable and equitable through the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and other no-cost materials.
