Students walked through the doors of iZone on Jan. 21 to find a table set up with snacks, flyers, a prize wheel, and a paper fortune teller. The UR Libraries event, Find it For Free, was an informational session helping students learn about their options for finding course materials at low-to-no costs.
Explaining why UR Libraries held the event, Student Success Librarian Eloise Stevens highlighted the need for low-to-no-cost resources for students who might face a financial burden with course material costs.
“We have the limitation of the for-profit industry trying to sell […] convenience to instructors and faculty members,” Stevens said. “And often this means students are the ones who are put in the financial squeeze of purchasing individual textbook access.”
There are three main options for students to find low-to-no-cost course materials: Course Reserves, UR and Public Libraries, and open web sources.
Course Reserves
Course Reserve Specialist Alex Kurland explained that when a resource is on course reserve, students enrolled in the specific class for which it is reserved can check it out for a short period of time, typically two hours, before the next student can gain access.
“It’s not an equitable system. So some students that can afford to buy a book then are just in much better shape than those that can’t. And we’re trying to cut that barrier,” Kurland explained.
Professors initiate the process by referring the library toward physical materials that students in their class might need access to throughout the semester, Kurland explained. If course materials are not registered, students might not be able to access materials they need for class. According to Kurland, if a book is not put on reserve, a student could check it out, another student could recall it, and the first student could put another recall on it. This results in a back and forth that disserves each student.
Students can find materials on course reserve online by searching by instructor name, course name and ID, department, and more.
UR and Public Libraries
If students cannot find their readings in the course reserve, they can turn to the UR Library catalog, which may include additional materials. To find those materials, students can search in DiscoverUR.
Although some e-books in the UR Library catalog can be used with unlimited access, licensing restrictions often mean that e-books have limited access or a cap on the number of students that can access the e-book at any single time. To avoid limiting access and not being able to regain access to e-books, students can download and/or print chapters or sections of the e-book while they have it checked out, Kurland and Open Publishing Librarian Kristin Totleben said.
Additionally, students at UR, who are considered NYS residents via their dorm/off-campus address, are eligible for both a New York Public Library digital library card and a Monroe County Library card, according to the UR Libraries website. Each library card allows access to online ebook library service Libby, which provides another collection of e-books and audiobooks that could contain course material.
Open Web Sources
In addition to University and library resources, students have access to several open web sources that could have course materials more widely accessible. This can be helpful with both materials published before 1929, which, as of Jan. 1, 2025, fall into Public Domain, as well as some more recent academic works.
The Internet Archive: Open Library, Project Gutenberg, and Hathi Trust Digital Library provide access to a large number of e-books and digitized publications needed for courses.
Students can find a resource guide for these options on the library’s website. They can also reach out to their subject librarian with any questions.
