Regular Orders
- New textbooks for undergraduate students are ordered through the UW-River Falls VerbaCollect website. Please place orders as far as possible in advance of the time the material is needed. Due dates are posted on the Faculty section of our website.
- Textbooks for graduate students are not supplied by Textbook Services. We will rent texts to graduate students who are taking undergraduate and/or "slash" courses if all undergraduate requirements for the text have been met and a copy of the text is available. Textbook Services must have authorization from the instructor involved before texts may be rented by graduate students. Please contact Textbook Services to establish that there are enough copies to allow rental to graduate students.
- Under the rental system, a text is expected to be used for a minimum of two years once it has been adopted. Requests for early replacement will be given special consideration when they involve subject areas where information changes rapidly, or classes which will be taught by new faculty members.
- By paying a textbook rental fee, each undergraduate student is entitled to the primary text for each course. Supplemental texts will also be provided to the maximum extent possible, with special emphasis given to courses taught in "book intensive" areas, and in courses where source material is used. Depending on the needs of the instructor and the course, texts may also be ordered for Reserve reading (through the Reserve Desk, Library) at the recommended ratio of one copy for every 12 students.
- Please exercise care in the selection of textbooks, as student money is the sole source of funding for textbook purchases. Faculty are encouraged to purchase a new edition of a text only when there has been a significant improvement in presentation, content or pedagogy, when compared to the older edition that they are planning to replace. Many times there is little or no change.
- This does not mean that texts should be used until they are falling apart; the physical condition of the current text would continue to be a factor in the decision regarding its replacement.
- Textbook staff continue to emphasize that faculty are the only judges of material that is needed for their classes.
- While many of these added features are valuable, they must be evaluated by faculty carefully, as they are not free, though often promoted as such, and almost always add to the cost of the textbook that they are bundled with.
- Faculty should also be aware that publishers, in order to increase their sales by limiting the sale of their textbooks on the used textbook market, will often bundle texts with study guides, lab manuals, CDs, DVDs, and custom Canvas sites.
- Exceptions to Textbook Services' purchasing policy may be requested (in writing) through the Textbook Services manager. Approval is contingent on cost, availability of funds, justification, etc. Denial of exception by the Textbook Services manager may be appealed to the Library Director. The Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs is the final authority on such requests.