Skip to Main Content

Free, Open, and Affordable Resources: Textbook Purchase Recommendation

University Libraries' Textbook Purchase Program

We want to help faculty find no- and low-cost alternatives to high-priced course materials. But NIU Libraries and the Textbook Task Force also purchase some required textbooks based on faculty recommendations. Print textbooks purchased through this program will be put on two-hour reserve at the Circulation Desk for student use in the library. We also purchase ebooks, but only those available with library-licenses which allow for unlimited users. Because of limited funds, we may not be able to acquire every textbook requested. Please submit your request, using the Textbook Purchase Recommendation Form.

Criteria for Textbook Purchasing 

  • Priority is given to high-priced books or materials which will be used in high-enrollment courses or courses with multiple sections. 

  • Precedence is given to materials that will be utilized for several semesters. 

  • Undergraduate and graduate course materials are eligible. 

  • Texts with single-user codes will not be purchased unless the faculty member notes that materials accessible only with a code will not be used in the course. 

  • Course packs and customized textbooks are not eligible for purchase. 

  • Loose-leaf and spiral-bound texts, which are easily damaged, are not eligible for purchase. 

  • Multiple copies of textbooks will not be purchased. 

  • Ebooks with licenses that do not permit unlimited users will not be purchased (note: submit your request and a librarian will check what licenses are available for the title).

  • Not all materials requested will be purchased; selection is contingent on the available budget. 

Textbook Purchase Program Members

Dee Anna Phares, Assistant Professor and Subject Specialist for History; Psychology;
Leadership, Educational Psychology & Foundations; Women's & Gender Studies; Juvenile Collection (Chair)

dphares@niu.edu

Michele Hunt, Assistant Professor and Acquisitions Librarian

mhunt5@niu.edu

Jacklyn Egolf, Senior Library Specialist, Acquisitions 

jegolf@niu.edu

Sara Richter, Library Specialist, Print Reserves Processing

srichter1@niu.edu
Leanne VandeCreek, Associate Dean, Public Services
lvandecreek@niu.edu

Gwen Gregory, Associate Dean, Collections Management

ggregory@niu.edu

 
https://libguides.niu.edu/OER/textbookpurchase
libguides.niu.edu
CC-MAIN-2023-40
56202
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:RRDZMFRUBJF5VXD5MU4OF72X363PK7NF
<urn:uuid:de4fc969-8944-44d4-a8a4-805aad7153c8>
2023-09-21T09:50:12Z
3.86.37.148
text/html
sha1:KEPF5BP727UETXAPEAEX3L6375JSHEAY
<urn:uuid:a1cfbc19-4cb8-4a95-877b-60872ba70f5d>
https://libguides.niu.edu/OER/textbookpurchase
response
<urn:uuid:f26bd419-e08a-4afa-90f4-d9ea3aa6b7cb>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2023-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September/October 2023
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-67
software: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.5-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/