Textbook Policy

The University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press does not add undergraduate-level textbooks to the collection, either as a purchase or when offered as a donation, especially textbooks that students are expected to purchase for use in a particular course.

The University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press acquires graduate-level textbooks selectively for the collection if they have some long-term research value or study value or if they cover a new or emerging discipline. In those cases when a textbook is acquired for the collection, only a single copy will be added without any implied commitment to acquire future editions of the textbook.

For the purpose of this policy, a textbook is described as a book designed to be used in the classroom to introduce students to a subject or continue basic instruction at the intermediate or advanced levels of a subject. Commonly, textbooks include study questions, discussion topics, study guides or exercises at the end of each chapter and may be published in subsequent editions in order to update information in previous editions. Textbooks may be designed for use in undergraduate courses, graduate courses, or for use in professional programs. It is the expectation of the instructor that textbooks, when assigned to students in a particular course, are to be purchased by each student in the course. Textbooks may be published either as printed books or electronic books.

Exceptions to the general policy may be made for a current textbook contributed to the Library whose author is a member of the University of Delaware faculty or staff.

Rev. 12/2/2010