Provost IMPACT Award: Helping students save with UK Libraries

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 18, 2025) — Last fall, the University of Kentucky Office of the Provost announced the second cohort of the Institutional Multidisciplinary Paradigm to Accelerate Collaboration and Transformation (IMPACT) Awards winners. 

The IMPACT Awards initiative, an internal funding program from the Office of the Provost, launched in 2023 to support innovation and transformation within UK’s colleges. The awards recognize the groundbreaking work conducted by faculty and staff across campus, and they create opportunities for transdisciplinary collaboration to occur between UK community members to help the university’s mission of advancing Kentucky.

In total, 15 colleges, including UK Libraries and the Graduate School, are working collectively to break new ground on ways to advance the Commonwealth.

This spring, UKNow is highlighting the 2024-25 IMPACT Award projects and the faculty who are leading them. Today, we learn more about the project titled “UK Libraries Course Material Affordability Initiative.”

The project is a strategic initiative focused on reducing the cost of required course materials for students at UK. It expands on the success of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant Program, which has already saved students nearly $2 million since 2016. Recognizing that not all courses have viable OER alternatives — particularly in upper-division, graduate and professional programs — this initiative introduces a complementary approach: purchasing eBooks with unlimited user access for assigned course materials.

Each semester, UK Libraries partners with the UK Bookstore to receive a list of required textbooks. The library project team members then identify which materials are already available through existing collections or can be purchased as unlimited-access eBooks. Once acquired and activated, these eBooks are made available to students at no cost and in collaboration with course instructors.

UKNow talked with Ben Rawlins, associate dean for outreach, engagement and collections, and Mitchell Scott, coordinator of collection strategies, to learn more about the project. Read more in the Q&A session below.

How has the IMPACT award inspired innovation at UK with your research?

Mitchell Scott, a PI on this IMPACT award, has an article forthcoming in July on how academic libraries support course material affordability initiatives, including the one at UK. This study highlights commonalities and differences in these programs, with UK’s model inspiring much of the discussion on institutional impact and strategic alignment. He has also presented this research — and UK’s approach — at national conferences and to regional groups, including the Electronic Resources and Libraries Conference, the Open Education Conference and Open Oregon.

How did you decide on this particular topic or research area?

Affordability has long been a priority for UK Libraries, supported through initiatives like print and electronic reserves, purchasing instructor-selected materials, supporting and incentivizing the adoption and creation of Open Educational Resources (OER), and providing access to a wide range of licensed and owned content that can be assigned across UK courses. More recently, academic libraries have begun partnering with campus units to proactively expand affordability efforts, often by leveraging DRM-free, unlimited-access eBooks. Until recently, UK Libraries lacked such a program — leaving a gap in its suite of affordability solutions. That changed for UK Libraries thanks to a new partnership with the UK Bookstore, which now shares required materials lists to assist the UK Libraries in identifying and filling affordability gaps. While similar programs typically grow slowly, support from the IMPACT award has allowed UK Libraries to scale this work quickly, offering new affordable course options where none previously existed.

What positive impact will your research have on Kentucky and beyond?

This initiative, along with the research it has generated, has the potential to create lasting, positive change by implementing a multi-faceted approach to course material affordability. Its goal is to make higher education more affordable and accessible for students at the University of Kentucky.

By exploring how academic libraries can strategically support affordability through campus partnerships — such as UK Libraries’ collaboration with the campus bookstore — this work offers a replicable model that can be adapted by institutions both regionally and nationally to address the rising costs of textbooks and course materials.

For students at the University of Kentucky, the impact is direct: reducing financial barriers, improving access to required learning materials and supporting academic success and retention. During the 2024-25 academic year, the IMPACT award has enabled the UK Libraries to purchase and provide unlimited access eBooks to more than 400 courses. This has impacted nearly 13,000 students with potential cost savings exceeding $1 million. Beyond Kentucky, this initiative contributes to a growing national dialogue around affordability, library-led innovation and cross-campus collaboration. Strengthened by the IMPACT award, our approach provides a scalable and cost-effective framework that libraries and universities across the country can adopt to better serve their students.

What comes next for your research?

UK Libraries views this program as a foundational pillar of its broader course materials affordability strategy. Building on the success of this initiative, we plan to expand efforts that more effectively connect students and instructors with affordable, accessible course content. This includes identifying high-cost courses with limited or no current alternatives and developing sustainable solutions — such as leveraging DRM-free, unlimited-access eBooks and advancing OER adoption and creation. We will also focus on deepening partnerships across campus to scale and embed affordability efforts into institutional practices.