Textbook Affordability Program

About the Textbook Affordability Program

Textbooks are expensive, we understand. We have initiated the Textbook Affordability Program to help combat the ever-increasing cost of purchasing and renting textbooks for a variety of courses that can be accessed for free. Simply stop by Hale Library, check out the textbook, and borrow it free. You can use it in the library for a few hours and even make scans of the pages you need most. 

Finding Textbooks at K-State Libraries

1. Check Search It to see if the book is available. Below is the list of selected courses with textbooks on reserve.

2. If it is on reserve, you can check it out and use it for a few hours in the library or scan the pages.

3. If it is not, go to the desk at Library Help and tell the attendant the course number and the instructor’s name, e.g., “Do you have the textbook for ECON150 with Adam Smith?”

More textbooks than ever

Thanks to a student-centered tuition enhacement grant from the K-State Student Governing Association in 2016, we increased the size of the reserves collection to meet student needs. While we can't buy every textbook, the Textbook Affordability Program did purchase textbooks for courses with the highest number of:

• Overall enrollments

• Dropout rates

• Pell grant recipients

• International student enrollments

• First-year and transfer students

Other ways to save

If the book isn’t in the collection or on course reserves, compare textbook prices at online retailers before buying. A few examples include Afford-A-Book or Big Words.

Finally, consider alternatives to buying the textbook:

• Look into textbook rentals

• See if you can get it through another library

• Contact fellow students in your discipline to borrow or trade textbooks

Donating Textbooks

If you have new or gently used textbooks for the courses listed above, consider donating them to help other K-State students. Donations can be dropped off at Library Help on the second floor of Hale Library. See the textbook donation guidelines for more information.

Questions about this program can be directed to the Center for the Advancement of Digital Scholarship, 313 Hale Library or by email at cads@k-state.edu.