Koenig, Anne

Webster, Berenika M

D-Scholarship@Pitt

Lessons Learned from the Hillman Library Textbook Reserves Pilot Program Berenika M. Webster, PhD  bwebster@pitt.edu | Director of Assessment and Quality AssuranceAnne Koenig, MPIA, MLIS  amk979@pitt.edu | Assessment Senior SpecialistUniversity Library System (ULS)University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260library.pitt.edu/assessmentPurpose  The cost of textbooks has increasingly become a financial burden on students.  On average, students can expect to spend over $1,200 annually just on books and supplies (National Center for Education Statistics - Digest of Education Statistics).  The Hillman Library Textbook Reserves Pilot Program was developed in response; making multiple copies of textbooks available to students for selected courses.Design To select textbooks for the pilot, ULS staff reviewed lists provided by the book store, enrollment size, frequency of the class offerings, liaison recommendations and faculty initiated purchase requests for reserve. To determine the number of copies to purchase, staff considered cost, enrollment, & expected demand.  Four courses were chosen:Findings Approximately 910 items were on course reserve for the Fall 2018 Term. Total circulation for all items was 3,622; and textbooks in the pilot, circulated 457 times. Textbook pilot items accounted for 4.7% of the total number of items on reserve and 12.5% of all the circulations. Three of the four pilot courses were in the top 10 - circulations per course.   See diagram “Total transactions (uses) per title compared to number of copies on reserve” for more information. • Average circulation for books in the pilot was higher than the average circulation for all other Hillman reserves. One caveat is that all Hillman reserves includes required as well as non-required texts.• Cost of the textbook did not appear to be a factor in determining usage of reserve texts. The most expensive book in the pilot (Operations Management text - $293) had a much lower than average circulation compared to the other pilot texts and Hillman reserves.  See “Cost Effectiveness of Pilot Texts” diagram for more information.• The text with the highest average circs per copy was for a course where the instructor reached out to Hillman staff to request we purchase the textbook. This course also had the highest circulationcompared to enrollment ( ~ 2.2 circs per student enrolled) and the highest cost compared to enrollment ( ~ $27per student).• Out of 2,319 students enrolled in the pilot courses, only 42 responded to the survey (~2% response rate). The American Constitutional Law course had the highest ratio of responses  (N=8, 23% response rate).  Based on the survey results, most students found out about the library copy from their instructor, during the first week of class.                                                                    Recommendations  • Important to have faculty engagement early in the process to identify potential textbooks for reserve and promoteusage of the texts to their students. • Imperative to alert students to the availability of the library texts in a timely manner (before they purchase). Examine best methods for publicizing the availability of reserve texts prior to students purchasing.• Continue to monitor trends in course reserve circs to identify particular courses/subjects/etc. that have high circulation totextbook copy ratios. See “Future Investigations” and “Top Courses by Fall 2018 Circulation Counts” diagrams for more information.• Research other methods for identifying textbooks for reserve that would have the greatest return on investment.• Refine criteria for textbook reserve purchases and methodology for balancing number of copies available with demand and assess the impact of any changes.• Collect additional feedback from faculty and students to make sure our efforts are matching their needs, and map efforts to student outcomes.Course      Enrollment   Avg. Cost   Number             of Text   of CopiesAmerican  Constitutional  Law   35        $236       4 Operations  Management     359       $293       12 Seminar in Comp    1,534          $99       20 Written Professional                $110       7Communication    391 

Lessons Learned from the Hillman Library Textbook Reserves Pilot Program

http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/35930/1/poster_berenika_2019.pdf

Lessons Learned from the Hillman Library Textbook Reserves Pilot Program

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