Obsolete

Retention

In order to retain course materials, departments must submit the obsolete textbook retention form. This form applies only to the number of copies currently in inventory. Textbook Rental Services will not be able to secure additional copies in the future for any obsolete or out-of-print textbooks. 

Once a complete obsolete textbook retention form is submitted, based on the Textbook Rental Services Policy, these course materials will be retained for another two years and will then follow the disposal process outlined below in priority order for course materials in which no retention form is received. Textbooks can only be retained once.

1. Course materials with a value are sold to a used-book company and the proceeds are returned to the textbook rental account for future course material purchases.
2. Course materials may be provided to the academic department as reference materials.
3. Course materials may be provided free to charge to students.  (Note:  Course materials may not be resold to students.)
4. Course materials may be disposed of through charitable donation.

All course materials on the current term obsolete list will be removed from inventory following the above procedure unless a retention form is received.

Obsolete Textbooks

In some cases, instructors may use out of print textbooks.  However, the current quantity of textbooks in inventory is the maximum number that are available. We generally cannot find additional copies to purchase. You must make sure that the inventory covers the course capacity and/or expected enrollment, whichever is greater.

The obsolete list shall include: 

1. Out of print textbooks, as referenced above.
2. Infrequently used textbooks – if a textbook has not been used in the last three (3) years, written justification is required to keep it in the inventory.
3. If a textbook has not been used for the last five (5) years it will be automatically discontinued.

Textbook Rental Services goal is to ensure that each student enrolled in a course has availability to a personal copy of the text. In cases where an out of print text is selected and there is not enough copies to meet enrollment,  the instructor can choose to put up to ten (10) of the available copies on reserve in Murphy Library to provide students equal access to the available copies. If the instructor chooses this option, they must complete the online form for Murphy Library two weeks (2 weeks) prior to the beginning of the term to allow for processing and placement of the textbooks.

Textbook Rental Services does not check out books that are out of print when the inventory is insufficient to meet to enrollment.  We only check out titles that are out of print in cases where every student has the opportunity to check out a personal copy.

Textbook Rental Services encourages instructors to submit orders to replace out of print texts, subject to the policy, especially when the books in our inventory are deteriorating and can't be easily replaced.

Textbooks go out of print randomly throughout the year. This status is constantly changing and being updated in Wings. You will find the most current out of print information on the Inventory List.

Textbook Rental Services will update the active or out of print status of all textbooks selected for INTERSESSION 2023 AND SPRING 2023 no later than October 15, 2022, prior to approvals being issued. Watch the print status of any books selected for your course(s) for any changes. 

If an instructor is teaching a course that has both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled, particular attention should be given to the print status of textbooks. While Textbook Rental Services may have copies of out of print textbooks that the undergraduates can use, the University Bookstore will not be able to buy copies to sell to the graduate students.