New college program provides free textbooks

In 2014, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a Colorado based nonprofit, conducted a study on the financial burden faced by college students due to the ever-increasing cost of textbooks. Key takeaways: Not only was the average cost of four years of textbooks $4,800, but due to software bundled into those books, the texts were worthless after a year.

The result, according to the report: 65% of college students didn’t buy the textbooks they needed for one or more classes.

Recognizing that rising textbook prices were far outpacing inflation, colleges started offering rental programs.

Such a program has now made its way to Moorpark College.

Starting this fall, the community college will provide students with access to the school’s first lending library, which will allow students to check out class textbooks for an entire semester at no cost. Students can also check out graphing calculators and new laptops for four hours.

The goal of the program is to remove a financial barrier for students during their college career.

“These books that are normally $200 to $300 to buy will be free for students to have for the semester,” said Gilbert Downs, a library assistant who spearheaded the lending library effort. “It was amazing how enthusiastic the campus community was when we talked about what a benefit this will be for students.”

Moorpark’s lending library will follow similar programs already in place at Ventura and Oxnard colleges, where students can check out myriad textbooks on a first-come, first-served basis.

At Ventura College, for example, the lending library provided 4,639 books to students during the 2017-18 school year.

“Ventura really has been the benchmark when it comes to textbook lending. They help out thousands of students each year,” Downs said.

The lending library was a labor of love for Downs, who worked for 11 years to get the project funded. As a first-generation college graduate, Downs understood how expensive books and classroom supplies could prohibit students from taking courses they like or from graduating on time.

“There were so many times I dropped courses because I couldn’t afford the book. It took me longer to get my degree because I had that barrier,” he said.

During the past school year, Downs’ longtime goal received renewed support from the college’s foundation, Veterans Resource Center, Associated Student Government and President’s Leadership Forum.

Together, the groups donated old textbooks and collected $330,000 to buy new books, calculators and computers for the lending library. In total the campus community accumulated 3,500 books, 75 graphing calculators and 50 laptops.

“What I noticed, especially with the calculators, is it was more patron-driven. We had people that wanted to support the program,” said Linda Kennedy, a Moorpark College reference librarian. “It was a community group effort.”

Library staff chose which textbooks and laptops to buy based on numerous student surveys and focus groups conducted by the Associated Student Government and the President’s Leadership Forum.

“Both groups surveyed several hundred students over six months and were able to tell me what to focus on and purchase,” Downs said.

As a result, initial lending library efforts homed in on notoriously expensive textbooks for STEM courses and required prerequisite courses such as intermediate algebra. There will be enough copies of algebra textbooks to provide one to every student in the course.

“I was shocked it was able to get together so quickly,” Downs said. “This was such a collaborative, student-led effort. We had some passionate students who cared about this and provided input and were involved in the decision-making.”

The program, library leaders believe, will help improve student success rates and increase transfers to four-year universities.

“Sometimes not having a textbook or a computer is what is going to make or break a student’s success. I really look at this as a huge step toward assisting those students and helping them transfer to those four-year colleges,” Kennedy said. “I am so proud of Moorpark for stepping forward and leading the charge on this.”