Students can access the books they need for classes by purchasing or borrowing physical textbooks, online eBooks or accessing Zero Textbook Cost material, a Los Rios program to minimize costly course material.

Cosumnes River College Librarian and Open Educational Resource Specialist Andi Adkins-Pogue said traditionally, a student’s high school experience didn’t involve paying for textbooks and some students on campus may not be aware of their new responsibilities.

“That can kind of be a turnoff, I think, especially when you’re talking about first generation students who maybe don’t have anyone in their family to help them navigate the systems,” Adkins-Pogue said.

If a student cannot access the physical library, they can access the digital library where textbooks, scholarly journals, articles, and reports are at their fingertips.

“My family members always told me to not pay for textbooks since I can always find an eBook online,” 18-year-old biology major Ariana Castro said. “Most teachers don’t even use the textbook. If I’m paying $130 for a textbook, I want to be able to use $130 worth of my money.”

The Cosumnes River College bookstore sells physical and online versions of textbooks for multiple courses on campus. The CRC website also offers links that provide more affordable options for textbooks.

Incoming students may be unaware of the ZTC and OER programs on campus. CRC students saved $2 million as of spring 2023 because 65% of CRC’s courses use ZTC and OER to help students fight financial barriers.

Adkins-Pogue said a financial barrier can keep students from taking the courses they want, especially in STEM fields where textbooks tend to have a higher cost.

“I think when you remove that financial barrier, you kind of open it up and allow students to explore some things that maybe they had been reluctant to explore,” Adkins-Pogue said.

When enrolling for classes, courses with no material cost will be labeled “ZTC,” Adkins-Pogue said.

To access free textbook materials, a student can request to borrow it through the library, whether that be on CRC’s website or in person.

Jada Jardino, an 18-year-old biology major, said she bought a textbook for her math class, but wasn’t aware that she could borrow the material from the library.

“I had to pay about $100 for the textbook, but I dropped the class anyway,” Jardino said. “So you know, I kind of wasted my money.”