Agreement between MBS Textbook Exchange and OpenStax Gives Students
Greater Access to Affordable Course Materials
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Barnes
& Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED), a leading provider of
educational products and services solutions for higher education and
K-12, today announced an expanded partnership with OpenStax™,
the Rice University-based publisher of open educational resources
(“OER”), through its MBS
Textbook Exchange (“MBS”) subsidiary. Beginning in fall 2018, MBS
will distribute OpenStax’s 29 print titles to its more than 3,500
college store partners.
The OpenStax agreement is part of BNED’s ongoing commitment to provide
affordable, accessible course materials for students nationwide.
Currently, the Company distributes OpenStax print titles at its more
than 760 Barnes
& Noble College bookstores. In addition, the Company’s LoudCloud
Courseware™ offering is built upon a foundation of high quality OER
titles, including those developed by OpenStax. The companies continue to
explore new ways to support their shared missions of driving
affordability and student success.
“We are pleased to build upon the strong partnership BNED already shares
with OpenStax,” said David Henderson, President of MBS. “The demand for
OER continues to grow, and MBS is proud to work with OpenStax to help
fill that demand and increase student access to affordable learning
materials.”
The expanded partnership streamlines adoption of OpenStax print titles
for schools, bookstores and faculty using MBS partner stores. The stores
will be able to place orders for OpenStax titles alongside those for
new, used, rental and publisher consignment rental titles — taking the
hassle out of print OER acquisition and making it easier for MBS partner
stores to bring the low-cost titles to students.
“OpenStax is thrilled to enhance our partnership with BNED by making
access to our low-cost print options even easier for students,” said
David Harris, editor in chief for OpenStax. “This agreement is an
excellent step in helping us achieve our mission with BNED."
Based at Rice University, OpenStax has become one of the most impactful
open educational resource publishers in the world, used by 48% of
colleges in the U.S. Since 2012, the nonprofit has helped make college
more affordable for over 6.2 million students by offering free,
peer-reviewed textbooks for high-enrollment college courses.
ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) is a leading
provider of higher education and K-12 educational products and
solutions. Through its Barnes & Noble College and MBS Textbook Exchange
segments, Barnes & Noble Education operates 1,444 physical and virtual
bookstores across the U.S., serving more than 6 million students and
faculty. Through its Digital Student Solutions segment, the Company
offers a suite of digital software, content and services including
direct-to-student study tools, serving approximately 100,000 subscribers
in more than 15 different countries and receiving more than 20 million
unique monthly visitors to its sites. The Company also operates one of
the largest textbook wholesale distribution channels in the United
States. For more information please visit www.bned.com.
BNED companies include: Barnes
& Noble College Booksellers, LLC, MBS
Textbook Exchange, LLC, BNED
LoudCloud, LLC, Student
Brands, LLC, and Promoversity,
LLC. General information on Barnes & Noble Education may be obtained
by visiting the Company's corporate website: www.bned.com.
ABOUT OPENSTAX
As a nonprofit education technology initiative that is supported by philanthropic
foundations, OpenStax is committed to improving access to quality
learning materials. In addition to free college textbooks, OpenStax also
provides free Advanced
Placement textbooks that are developed and peer-reviewed by
educators, along with low-cost, personalized courseware that helps
students learn. For more information, visit http://OpenStax.org.
View source version on businesswire.com:
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Media:
Barnes & Noble
Education, Inc.
Carolyn J. Brown, 908-991-2967
Senior Vice
President
Corporate Communications
[email protected]
or
Investors:
Barnes
& Noble Education, Inc.
Thomas Donohue, 908-991-2966
Senior
Vice President
Treasurer and Investor Relations
[email protected]
Source: Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.