Academic Library Services at East Carolina University leads a two-part affordable and alternative textbook program as part of a key initiative for its Strategic Framework. One part of the program is the Course Adopted Textbooks (CAT) initiative to purchase ebook copies of required textbooks. The second part is an alternative textbook mini-award to faculty members who create materials and/or substitute materials that are free or low-cost to students in place of traditional commercial textbooks. Since these programs have been operational for about nine years, an evaluation would help the library realize the impact of these programs on the campus community and determine future areas of growth. Evaluation strategies will vary between CAT and the alternative textbook program. The CAT initiative can be partially evaluated on cost-per-use. We are also interested in the frequency that specific titles, including their later editions, are used, as well as the total number of students and course sections served, and the departments most impacted. Currently, the alternative textbook program’s evaluation focuses on cost savings for students and faculty experiences with the program. The alternative textbook program would benefit from additional evaluations as noted in the Open Education Group’s COUP Framework. Recently, the university’s bookstore changed from being university-owned to being operated by Barnes & Noble. Another significant change in recent years is expanded awareness of OpenStax, particularly for foundations classes that have multiple sections. This evaluation will consider the impacts of these changes as well as impacts of other possible changes related to the university bookstore
