Fall 2022 Student Textbook Survey Results

During the Fall 2022 semester, eleven Oberlin Group institutions in association with the Open and Equitable Access to Scholarship Working Group conducted a student textbook survey adapted from the 2016 Florida Virtual Campus survey and the 2019 Gettysburg College survey. The goal of the project was to gain a better understanding of how the costs of course materials impact our own students. This presentation provides an overview of those results as well as action steps we as a campus can take to better support our students. This study was coordinated by the Oberlin Group - Open and Equitable Working Group

Afternoon Session Breakout

This is a summary of the notes taken during the afternoon breakout session. Attendees were asked to address three questions. Questions and major themes from the discussion are detailed in the document

Morning Session Breakout

This is a summary of the notes taken during the afternoon breakout session. Attendees were asked to address three questions. Questions and major themes from the discussion are detailed in the document

Ladd Looking Forward - A Reading Group

In the summer of 2017, the staff of Ladd Library and Muskie Archives at Bates College embarked upon a semester-long, bi weekly reading group. Facing the upcoming search for new leadership, we spent the Fall 2017 semester discussing a broad array of topics relevant to the profession as a whole and what we might consider for our own future. We asked all participants to engage with a growth mindset, and set down rules to push the conversation beyond “this is the way we’ve always done it” as a justification against change

Curating Your Scholarly Identity

In this presentation, we illustrate three strategies to increase the visibility and accessibility of your academic research. These strategies include developing and executing a plan for curating your scholarly identity, getting your work seen and cited and finally promoting your work through the use of social networks and media

The Price Isn\u27t Right: How Libraries Can Overcome the Invisible Cost of Education

The rising cost of textbooks is a growing concern among students, faculty, and administrators at institutions across the country. According to the College Board, the average student spends approximately $1,200 per year on textbooks and supplies. This price point can be a roadblock for many students and can potentially change the course of their academic pursuits. Certain disciplines have higher material costs, which can impact student retention and success in those fields. Reserve programs are a common occurrence in academic libraries, however variable and non-standard. Historically, few libraries purchase textbooks for reserves given their high cost and frequent edition revisions. This presentation will discuss how one small liberal arts college implemented a total reserves policy, acquiring all required course texts for every class with no additional funding to the library. The library started this program in response to student concerns over textbook affordability and equity of access. It has allowed for new partnerships on campus beginning with the College Store and progressing to the Office of Advancement. The continued success of the program has raised awareness on campus to the invisible costs of education and sparked new conversations and initiatives on textbook affordability and open educational resources. Several departments within the library worked together to set up the initial program and create a sustainable model of both budgets and staffing. Our collaborations with other departments on campus strengthened communication to and from faculty and developed new opportunities and audiences for fundraising. Demonstrated success from high circulation and positive student feedback have shown the library to be a leader on campus. Participants will come away with an understanding of the upfront and maintenance costs associated with implementing such a program; how to find avenues for collaboration and fundraising; and what equity looks like in an academic library

A New Approach to Marketing and Outreach for Engineering Libraries

This article describes the marketing and outreach efforts and related assessment activities of the Columbia University Libraries Science & Engineering division. Our marketing and outreach plan incorporated a three step approach to connect with our user base. The steps included launching a monthly newsletter, marketing our extensive electronic resources, and implementing a robust workshop schedule. Our assessment of these activities has shown continual growth of campus interest in our services and resources

The Bookstore is for T-Shirts: cooperatively marketing the library\u27s ebooks as textbooks

Textbook affordability has become a key concern for faculty, publishers, and librarians. A librarian-publisher team will provide a toolkit for librarians interested in identifying ebooks within their collection that may be used as affordable course texts, as well as methods for working with publishers and faculty in collaborative marketing

Ladd Looking Forward - the Remix

This is the third installment and second year of our Ladd Looking Forward group. Based on community feedback we operated on a new format and schedule incorporating colleagues from IT services and other staff offices located in the library

You Can Get There From Here: Not Your Mother\u27s Book Club

In this presentation we discuss how we implemented a professional reading group with the staff of Ladd Library and Muskie Archives. The full reading lists can be found here: Ladd Looking Forward - A Reading Group - https://scarab.bates.edu/ils_scholarship/3 Ladd Looking Forward - the Next Generation - https://scarab.bates.edu/ils_scholarship/