Course Affordability
The Libraries and the NYU Bookstore work together to support access to affordable course materials for our students. This page guides instructors through the affordable course material process at NYU.
Get Started with Affordable Course Materials
If you haven’t yet selected the materials for your course, the Libraries’ subject specialists can help.
- Once you’ve selected the materials you want to use for your course, check the catalog to see if the Libraries has a copy of the material.
- If we have it electronically: submit a request through the Bookstore using the Faculty Information: Request Course Materials page. This will notify both the Bookstore and the Libraries. You’re done!
- If we have it physically: request it through Libraries Course Reserves.
- If the Libraries doesn’t have it: request it through Libraries Course Reserves so we can purchase a copy for you.
- Exceptions that should go through the Bookstore:
- Cengage, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Macmillan materials. These publishers do not license electronic materials to libraries.
- Harvard Business Review materials.
- Exceptions that should go through the Bookstore:
- Submit all your selected materials to the Bookstore, if you haven’t already, to ensure the most affordable purchase options are available to your students.
Affordability Initiatives
Bookstore Matching Project
At the beginning of each semester, the Libraries takes data from the Bookstore, student registration, course reserves, and the library catalog and uses a matching process to find electronic copies already owned/leased by the Libraries.
Matches are automatically added to the Course Reserves system. Instructors and students can access matched material two ways:
- Through ares.library.nyu.edu under Courses
- Through the NYU LMS (Brightspace). In the LMS go to “More Tools” in the navigation bar and select “Course Reserves” from the dropdown.
Libraries Course Reserves
NYU Libraries is happy to place required course materials on reserve for instructors and students. Learn more about our Course Reserves service.
The Course Reserves System offers the following benefits:
- Reducing reliance on email communication. Once submitted, the processing status of a request can be tracked within the Course Reserves System
- Access all reserve materials (physical and electronic) at one central and secure site
- Links to e-journal articles and ebooks are stable and accessible from on and off-campus
- Integration with the NYU LMS (Brightspace)
- Easily clone items from previous or current courses.
- Adding proxy users who can request reserve items on behalf of an instructor
NYU Bookstore Affordability Initiatives
Faculty should request required and recommended course materials directly through the NYU Bookstore.
In order to fully maximize student savings opportunities, faculty should submit their adoptions for the upcoming term by the target dates emailed to them by the course materials team. The NYU Bookstore shares all adoption information with NYU Libraries to support the Bookstore Matching Project.
On-time adoptions allow the Bookstore the time to source digital, used, and rental options, and provide necessary information to inform buyback decisions and pricing.
The University is required to disclose the costs of all course materials so that students can estimate their total cost of attendance. This allows students to source their preferred format of course materials at the lowest price available.
The Bookstore works to provide affordable course materials by offering the following options for students:
- Follett ACCESS program
- Digital materials
- Rental program
- Price matching
- Used Books
- Buybacks