College textbook prices increased 35% from 2011 to 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This price increase has made it difficult for many students to purchase their required course materials. 

Temple University Libraries is committed to reducing barriers to the access of a rich array of resources for our campus and the wider community. One way we work to achieve this is by supporting textbook affordability and open educational practices.

The Textbook Affordability Project (TAP) is a grant program that awards funds to Temple faculty members who make their courses more affordable for their students by replacing costly educational resources with library-licensed materials or open educational resources (OER). Alternatively, faculty can receive funds for engaging in other open educational practices, like creating openly-licensed learning objects or replacing traditional assignment(s) with renewable assignment(s) that center students as creators of knowledge.  Awards range from $500 to $1,500.

Open educational resources (OER), according to the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), are "teaching, learning, and research resources that are free of cost and access barriers, and which also carry legal permission for open use. Generally, this permission is granted by use of an open license (for example, Creative Commons licenses) which allows anyone to freely use, adapt and share the resource—anytime, anywhere."