Ontario's Online Textbook Library Now Has Over 200 Free Electronic Textbooks Available For Students

In September of last year, an Open Textbook Library was launched by eCampusOntario, a not-for-profit organization that works to provide technology-enabled solutions to education. 

The online library was established to provide students relief from the rising cost of course materials. It’s a convenient, easy-to-use web portal that serves as a valuable resource for research projects, required readings or personal projects.

When it was first launched, the online library already consisted of 180 open textbook, the majority of which were relevant to the top 40 highest-enrolled subject areas in the province. In the four months that it has been running, it has added over 50 new textbooks to the collection, raising the total past an impressive 200.

The best part about it is that anyone from the province can access the materials and download their electronic versions for free. So far, a total of 2,700 students have saved over $307,000, and those numbers continue to grow.

Educators also benefit from the online library as they can access relevant materials for their own courses, as well as upload their own textbooks under a Creative Commons licence for others to use. New textbooks are continuously being added on an ongoing basis, with $1 million invested in expanding the collection. Multiple formats will be made available, including PDFs and print versions.

If you’re currently in school and are in the process of looking for textbooks, make sure to check out the Open Textbook Library first before you spend your money!