Faculty Textbook Information
- The deadline for Departments to return Spring 2025 Issue Requirements, New Textbook Purchase Requests, Supplementary Textbook Student Purchase Requests, and Requests for Supplementary Student Purchase for DIgital Access is Monday, October 28, 2024.
Textbook Rental Service guidelines at a glance:
Basic Textbooks
Basic Textbooks for courses are adopted based on departmental decisions and approval by department chairs. Multiple sections of courses and honors sections of courses are considered to be separate courses for purposes of selecting basic textbooks with the exception of general education and introductory level courses. Ordinarily, the sum of the list prices of approved basic textbooks for any one course shall not exceed the amount in the current year’s cost limit schedule.
A separate request is required for each basic textbook adoption and shall include, where feasible, the following information.
- Title, author, publisher, edition, course in which the new textbook is to be used, semester needed, number of copies needed, and estimated list price.
- Author, title, edition, date of adoption, course for which the replaced textbook was used, and suggested disposition of the replaced textbook.
. All new purchase requests must be fully completed and submitted by the established semester/term deadline.
Adoption Cycle
A basic textbook must be issued the longer of two years or three semesters. Summer term does not count as a semester of use unless that is the only time that the course is offered.
Textbook Purchase Exceptions
Textbook Rental Service does not purchase textbooks for workshops, special topic courses, independent study, internship, research or thesis courses. However, if there are titles not being issued, instructors may request that students in these types of courses utilize these textbooks after the official enrollment count day of a semester term. These requests can be sent to Susan Allen, seallen@eiu.edu.
In instances where the body of knowledge in a discipline is undergoing rapid and substantial change, where a new edition replaces a current one on a cycle of less than two years, or where a textbook has substantial and serious shortcomings in its instructional value, the department chair may, with the concurrence of Textbook Rental Service, approve basic textbooks for a course for less than two years or three semesters of scheduled use.
If necessary for academic quality, dollar amounts may vary with the level and discipline of courses involved with the approval of Textbook Rental Service.
Exceptions, other than those specifically noted in this section, must be approved by the dean responsible for the academic department upon recommendation of the department chair and by Textbook Rental Service. In the event of no concurrence, Textbook Rental Service shall refer such matters to the Vice President for Student Affairs and the Vice President for Academic Affairs for resolution. Due consultation with others as needed and as circumstances dictate is assumed.
Textbooks Authored by EIU Faculty
To minimize suggestions of conflict of economic interest, recommendations for adoption of basic or supplementary textbooks authored by University faculty members must include approval of the department chair and the dean responsible for the academic department. A statement must accompany such recommendations, indicating (a) that no other textbooks containing material appropriate to the course are available, or (b) that if other textbooks are available, the textbook selected is deemed most appropriate.
Additional Instructional Materials
If the Request for Textbook Purchase form indicates a package ISBN that includes a CD ROM and the request is supported by the Department Chairperson and approved by Textbook Rental Service, the CD ROM will be included in the text, if feasible. All other materials will be delivered to the instructor or, in the event of multiple instructors, the Department Chairperson of record and distributed to the students at their discretion.
Supplemental Materials
All other supplemental readings, workbooks, eBooks, and online learning materials are consumable items and are not considered basic textbooks. These items are available for student purchase at booksellers, including the University Union Bookstore, but are not stocked or sold by Textbook Rental Service.
Supplemental/student purchase items or digital access must be requested through Textbook Rental Service. These requests must be submitted by the established semester/term deadline and are subject to cost limitations.
Supplementary Textbook Request
Supplementary Student Purchase for Digital Access Request
Desk Copies
Desk copies will not be supplied by Textbook Rental Service except on a short-term basis, when a textbook is out of print, or in extenuating circumstances. Desk copies should be obtained directly from the publishers.
Discarding process
Textbook Rental Service discards and removes titles from the inventory per authorization from the Department Chair. If a complimentary copy of a discarded text is desired, please submit a written request. This request can be submitted on the Textbook Purchase Request form, the issue requirement report, the departmental printout, or an email message from the Department Chair to seallen@eiu.edu.
Fair Warning Listing
If a textbook is not issued for a period of five years or longer, it is included in a "fair warning listing" to be sent to the appropriate department chair and shared with the faculty of that department as to the lack of usage and the removal of these titles from the Textbook Rental Service inventory or the specific plans to issue these titles for current or future courses.
Within each department, individual faculty will review this listing and make notations as to the removal or retention of each title. If titles are to be retained in the Textbook Rental Service inventory, there must be specific information as to the course or courses in which the textbook will be assigned and the expected date of use, (i.e. semester/year).
This information must be returned by the established deadline. If the information is not returned by the established deadline or no notations are visible upon receipt of this information by Textbook Rental Service, the "fair warning listing" will be forwarded to the appropriate dean of each academic area, serving as notification that these titles will be eliminated from the inventory. If titles listed to be issued for current or future courses are not utilized, these titles will be removed from the Textbook Rental Service inventory by the authorization of Textbook Rental Service. Textbooks listed to be removed from the inventory cannot be reordered for a period of two years following their removal.
Reserve Textbooks
If a copy or copies of a title is to be placed on reserve in Booth Library, an e-mail request to cmcoffey@eiu.edu can be sent. This message should include the author, title, course number and section, semester/term, instructor and an estimated enrollment. One copy per 10 students can be placed on reserve. The request must be repeated each semester/term and must be submitted by the semester/term deadline.
Textbook Rental Service Advisory Committee
The Textbook Rental Service works in conjunction with an advisory committee composed of representatives from numerous areas of the university. These include the Council on Academic Affairs, Council on Graduate Studies, Graduate Student Advisory Council, Faculty Senate, Faculty-at-Large, Booth Library, Academic Affairs, and the student body.
Purchase Option
Textbook Rental Service offers a sales period to the students for textbooks that they have checked out for current semester/term courses. Please visit our website for specific semester/term sales information.
Textbooks from Dropped/Withdrawn Courses
Students taking on-campus courses must return textbooks from dropped/withdrawn courses within two business days of dropping/withdrawing the class to avoid charges that can include the current list price of each book, a late fine per book and a non-refundable drop processing fee. For dropped or withdrawn courses, a non-refundable $20 per book processing fee will be charged for the associated textbooks not returned within the designated time frame.
Students taking online or off-campus courses have five business days from the date of dropping or withdrawing from the class to return textbooks without being charged a non-refundable drop processing fee, accruing fines, and/or book charges. For dropped/withdrawn courses, a non-refundable $20 per book processing fee will be charged for the associated textbooks not returned within the designated time frame.
Semester/Term Textbook Return Deadlines
The deadline to return or postmark textbooks from all On-Campus courses (sections 001-599) is 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon during finals week. This applies to both the Fall and Spring semesters. The Summer return deadline is the Monday following finals week and can vary with summer hours. During the five-day grace period, all textbooks from On-Campus courses not returned or postmarked by the deadline are subject to late fine charges of $20 per book. For students with textbooks from On-Campus courses (Sections 1-599), the replacement cost of any unreturned textbooks will be posted to individual student accounts, in addition to the previously posted $20 per book late fine charges immediately following the five-day grace period deadline.
The deadline to return or postmark textbooks from all Online and Off-Campus courses (sections 600 and above) is the five-day grace period deadline. For students with textbooks from Online and Off-Campus courses (Sections 600 and above), $20 per book late fines and the replacement cost of any unreturned textbooks to individual student accounts immediately following the five-day grace period deadline.
Please visit our website for specific semester/term textbook return information.
Textbook Condition
All textbooks are rented and are the property of Eastern Illinois University. Students are not allowed to highlight, underline or write in the textbooks. Students will be required to pay full list price, plus tax, for any textbooks that have been lost, written in, highlighted or underlined, have any visible signs of liquid damage of any type, have been subjected to unusual wear, or have RFID tags that have been removed or damaged in any way, plus any associated late fines. We recommend a waterproof book bag or another type of protective method for transporting your textbooks, to and from our facility. Keep them away from food, drink, and all other potentially damaging situations, including protecting your textbooks from weather-related conditions.