GrinnBooks ensures student access to books and course materials
March 20, 2025 — Beginning in fall 2025, all Grinnell students will start the semester with their books and course materials in hand – or on their laptop.
GrinnBooks is a collegewide program providing automatic access to required textbooks and materials at the start of each semester. The cost of textbooks will be included in students’ comprehensive fee. This means they won’t have an immediate out-of-pocket-expense for books, and the cost of course materials will be included when calculating their financial aid need.
Brad Lindberg
Students who don’t have any or few required books can opt out of the program and receive a refund to their student account.
“We anticipate that the average student will save about $150 a semester because we can negotiate the very best prices with our textbook partner,” said Brad Lindberg, associate vice president of institutional initiatives and enrollment. “Not to mention that it’s a lot easier logistically than each student trying to track down less expensive used textbooks or purchasing online.”
At a Community Friday lunch on March 7, Andi Tracy, associate professor of psychology and associate dean for student academic life, and Cassie Wherry, Pioneer Bookshop manager, discussed the GrinnBooks program with faculty and staff. Wherry said some first-year students show up to Grinnell unaware that books aren’t already included.
“Some students were caught off guard that everything else was included in tuition and fees except for books,” she said. “And so they had to come up with money for it, which led to students not coming to classes with the required books.”
Another advantage of the program is students can select their course schedule without concern as to the cost of the textbooks required for a particular course. Wherry said there’s been past instances of students avoiding certain courses because of costly class materials.
Andi Tracy, left, associate dean for student academic life, and Cassie Wherry, Pioneer Bookshop manager, introduce GrinnBooks March 7 at an event for faculty and staff.
All required textbooks designated by the instructor are included in the program, including workbooks, journal articles, and other assigned reading. Faculty members have the option of requesting digital or physical textbooks. If a professor has no preference, digital books will be the default, Wherry says. Physical books can be kept permanently while digital books get turned off at the end of the semester, Tracy added.
Digital books will be delivered to students through Canvas (the College’s new Learning Management System) while physical books will be picked up all at once at the Pioneer Bookshop, starting Aug. 24 – the first day residence halls are open.
Another benefit Wherry and Tracy touted is that all students in the class will have the current edition of the book, as well as the codes to access online problem sets. At times, students purchase past editions of the book, which have different page numbers and less current information.
“It’s a comprehensive program that enables faculty exercise full academic freedom about what books and materials or courseware they want to use,” Lindberg said. “Anything with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) – that’s the little bar code or number that is attached to every printed item – is included. We believe that it will make things more convenient for everyone.”
—by Jeremy Shapiro