Textbooks on Reserve

The Library has provided textbooks on reserve for a selection of courses offered at Middletown since 2006. Below is the list of courses which currently have textbooks available on reserve. Faculty members, ask us to add a textbook on reserve with our Reserve Request Form!

• Miami University Online Textbook Source - check to see which books are required for your courses.
• OhioLINK Central Catalog - search to see if you can borrow a textbook from an OhioLINK library.
• Open Textbook Collections - affordable alternatives to textbooks exist in open access textbooks and other materials (let your faculty member know).
• Each textbook may be checked out for two hours, or also overnight if they are checked out within two hours of our closing time (they are due back an hour after the library opens the next day).
• Only one copy of each textbook is available in most cases.
• The textbooks are used for all sections of the courses offered at Middletown unless otherwise noted.
• Donations of current textbooks by faculty and students are encouraged to expand the project (and stretch our library funds).
• Reserve Materials - includes additional items not listed below (videos, supplemental readings) that instructors may place on reserve.

History and Purpose
In a collaborative effort, the Gardner-Harvey Library, Miami Middletown Student Government (MMSG), academic departments, and individual faculty members brought together, starting in Fall 2006, a reserve collection of textbooks for Miami Plan or other introductory courses offered at Miami University Middletown. The aim was and is to assist students who may not be able to afford the textbooks or who may be delayed in purchasing them, and to give all students in the courses an opportunity to make use of their required texts while on campus. Given the ever-rising costs of textbooks, this project is aimed at making these materials for learning as widely available as possible, which is certainly a part of the Library's mission. A bit more on our motivation can be found in this article.

The program grew tremendously in 2008-2009 thanks to a gift from Robert and Nita Driscoll. Robert was an active member of the Middletown community and a patron of the Gardner-Harvey Library for many years. Mrs. Driscoll made this gift to the campus in memory and continuation of his efforts to support education. Textbooks have certainly not become cheaper, and this gift extends our reach to serve students.