In the spring of 2014, the provost of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, approached the library to ask that the library purchase textbooks for some courses in the upcoming fall and spring semesters in order to support student success. With no additional funds for the textbook purchases, the library surveyed peer institutions regarding textbooks purchases, including e-textbooks, contacted a local university library that does purchase textbooks. The Collections Team within the library analyzed this information, considered how textbooks at the library would be used by students and for which classes they would provide the most impact. This August we will purchase our first selection of textbooks from materials’ funds and track how they are used by students and whether this program will indeed support student success at UALR. What attendees can learn:What UALR Library considered in purchasing textbooks, which classes we decided to target, how students would use the textbooks, how much money we decided to spend on textbooks, as this is coming out of our materials budget, how we will purchase these textbooks, how much these textbooks are used, how this will impact circulation staff, faculty response to this program (hopefully)
