Dear HSU Faculty,

The mission of Humboldt State University is to offer affordable high-quality education, and in support of that mission, the HSU Library invites you to peruse bound editions of OpenStax Textbooks on display near the Library Café.  This exhibit was organized by the HSU Library, 20 Million Minds Foundation, and Rice University-based OpenStax College to promote awareness of high-quality open textbooks and Open Educational Resources (OER); twelve other CSU Libraries are launching similar displays of OpenStax Textbooks.

You know that peer reviewed, copy edited, high-quality textbooks that are free online and affordable in print are important to students:  HSU Faculty were among the first to adopt OpenStax Textbooks, and two print editions are currently available at the HSU Bookstore.  Kudos!  Open textbooks are also powerful teaching resources, the creative commons licenses allow you to adopt and adapt the works, and the OpenStax online textbooks permit customization and have a variety of supplemental resources.

A recent national survey indicated some 65% of students are not purchasing a textbook because it was too expensive and 94% of those worried that doing so would hurt their grade.  Another way to reduce cost barriers to education is to place materials on course reserves, and I thank those of you who do so.  This year, thanks to a list of all textbooks provided by the HSU Bookstore, the HSU Library found over 150 textbooks already on our shelves and added them to course reserves.  Plus, with a private donation of $400 per college, we were able to purchase nine critical textbooks for reserves, selected on the basis of highest potential savings as determined by cost multiplied by the number of students enrolled in each course.

The selection of course textbooks and readings is solely a faculty decision, and we would like to provide options for your evaluation. In addition to the OpenStax Textbooks display, which will be available near the Library Café until May 20, 2015, you might be interested in these online resources:

·         OpenStax Textbooks online: http://openstaxcollege.org/books

Current titles; Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, College Physics, Concepts of Biology,  Introduction to Sociology, Introductory Statistics, Pre-calculus, Principles of Economics, Principles of Macro-Economics, Principles of Micro-Economics, Psychology, and U.S. History.

·         HSU Library OER guide: http://libguides.humboldt.edu/openedu

I hope to see you in the Library and invite you to stop by my office any time to discuss open textbooks and open educational resources, or HSU Library.

Sincerely,

Cyril