Summary:
This article discusses the place of textbooks in the collections of academic libraries and reports on the initiation of an on-reserve textbook collection program at the University of Oklahoma. Murphy is quick to point out the financial burden of textbooks on students, stating that “textbooks can cost the average college student $900 per year, or 26% of the cost of the tuition and fees at four-year public institutions” (p. 146). Much of the rationale behind the creation of this library’s textbook reserve collection was rooted in the belief that if the purpose of a library is to provide information resources in the greatest demand by patrons, it is the University of Oklahoma Library’s responsibility to grant students access to textbooks. After numerous requests for textbook access by the University of Oklahoma’s Student Congress Association, the President’s office agreed to provide $200,000 per year for select textbooks to be purchased and placed on reserve. These reserve items proved to be a very successful addition to the library’s collection with a current total of 1,895 titles and over 100,000 uses over 5 years.
Response:
There is no question that the cost of textbooks is exorbitantly high. Students are rarely, if ever, able to make such purchases without a second thought to finances--if they are able to purchase textbooks, at all. I absolutely agree with the author that if the library’s purpose is to provide patrons with access to their information needs, and students have a demonstrated intellectual need for textbooks, it is the responsibility of the library to provide that service. While I realize that there are logistical repercussions for having textbooks in a collection, whether in the stacks or on reserve, I think the value they provide to students and the opportunities they create to actually get students into the library and/or using other library resources is worth the investment.
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