Oregon Public Broadcasting

One of Portland Community College’s main campuses is experimenting with a new way to help students get around the high cost of textbooks.

The Cascade campus library will have one copy of every required textbook on hand Monday, as students start classes. But with enrollment growing, students are increasingly worried about the cost of textbooks.

Officials are already wondering if one book to lend out is enough.

Dana Haynes is a PCC spokesman.

Dana Haynes: “It’s a pilot, we’re going to see how it goes. It’s currently paid out of some loans from the president, and from a dean, who ponied up their own money, as well as the student government association. We’ll see how it goes, if demand is incredibly high, then we’ll go to the president’s campus and say ‘this was a success, let’s fund it permanently’.”

Haynes says it cost about $25,000 to put one copy of each required book in the Cascade campus library.