Library Policy on Required Texts

As Amended August 27, 2018

Placing Physical Copies  of Course Texts on Course Reserve

Definition
In this policy, “course texts” refers to all books and other materials (movies, audio recordings) that are required or suggested for a course. 

When requested by the faculty member teaching the course, the library will place on course reserve physical copies of course texts which are already part of the library collection or copies provided to the library by a faculty member, the College bookstore, or another source. Unless the library has been informed that the text will be used again for a course in a subsequent semester, or unless the text was provided as a donation to the library, these texts will be returned to the providing party at the end of the semester for which they have been reserved.

The library does not purchase physical copies of textbooks that it does not already own nor does it purchase newer editions of textbooks of which an earlier edition is already in the collection.

Definition
For the purposes of this policy, “textbook” refers to material specifically designed and marketed to assist with the teaching of a subject.

Electronic Course Texts

The library owns or subscribes to collections of electronic materials that might be suitable as course texts. However, rights on electronic resources are restricted in some cases to one user viewing at a time, and in other cases, publishers may decided to remove titles from collections to which the library subscribes. For those reasons, faculty intending to use electronic materials (ebooks, streaming media, image collections) in the library collection should contact the library before the semester so that library staff can confirm the materials’ availability for multiple users through the end of the semester in which the course will be taught.

The library does not purchase electronic versions of textbooks that it does not already own, where “textbook” is as defined above.