The Textbook Crisis

Lindsay McKenzie has written a piece for Inside Higher Ed about how library COVID quarantines of print materials are hitting college students hard: “Librarians are quarantining print materials for several days between loans to stop the spread of COVID-19. For students who rely on the library to access textbooks, that’s a problem.”

She adds that “During the spring, many publishers made access to digital course materials free to ease students’ transition into remote instruction. But that offer was temporary. At Santa Fe Community College, for example, students are still learning remotely and do not have access to print materials in the library.”

The students who need the most help are increasingly finding that they do not have the resources to earn their place in an increasingly digital society.

The article is worth a read. Our takeaway, oversimplifying but essential: Publishers, give college libraries access to digital textbooks at a reasonable cost!