State senate advances bills that would create free online textbook library

http://www.dailycal.org/2012/06/01/state-senate-advances-bills-that-would-create-free-online-textbook-library/

In an effort to address the surging costs of higher education for college students, the California State Senate passed two bills aimed at giving students free access to textbooks for popular lower division courses on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 1052 would create the California Open Education Resources Council, which would oversee the digitization of the 50 most popular lower division textbooks. Its companion bill, SB 1053, would create an open source digital library through which students could access the textbooks on computers or mobile devices.

The council would be composed of 9 faculty members from the UC, CSU and community college system. The members would create and review the list of the books, and establish an ongoing competitive bidding process by which those interested in producing the books could apply for funds to do so.