Policy

The University of Houston Libraries does not purchase, or accept donations of, textbooks for our collections.

Definition

A textbook is a work specifically designed for classroom use. It introduces or continues instruction on a subject at various levels (beginner, intermediate, or advanced). Key characteristics include:

• Tertiary information, reporting from primary and secondary sources in a summary way.
• Study questions, discussion topics, or exercises at the end of chapters.
• Frequent updates and new editions.
• Designed for use in undergraduate, graduate, or professional programs.
• May be available in print or electronic formats.

Common Textbook Publishers: Major textbook publishers include Pearson Education, Cengage Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and McGraw-Hill Education.

Rationale

UH Libraries collections provide access to research materials that support university learning and research priorities beyond short-term coursework. Further:

• Textbooks are cost-prohibitive due to the high volume of courses and constant need to update textbook editions.
• Many textbooks include single-use codes for online content that are challenging to make accessible to all students.
• Most publishers do not sell electronic editions of textbooks to libraries. When they do, they tend to be extremely expensive and often limit how many people can use them at the same time.

Exceptions

Exceptions to this policy may be made on a case-by-case basis, when the work has value beyond being a textbook. This value usually derives from the work being one that has information that isn’t available elsewhere, or the research faculty in the discipline recognize the work as the best presentation of the topic currently available (so it is unique in the field), or the entire discipline uses the work as a standard for reference. Another scenario for an exception is for situations where the course is teaching students how to teach the textbook itself.

Decisions to purchase textbooks under exceptional circumstances will consider factors such as the availability of funds and its potential long-term value to the broader academic community.