Options for affordable textbooks are available. If you find a textbook offered for free or a low price, and the book meets your course's needs, many students will appreciate low-cost or free textbooks.
Please see below links to several resources for finding affordable or free books, including links to some sample searches. Not every resource below has a huge selection (e.g., MIT Press), but each of these resources has something that may be of interest.
Some factors to keep in mind as you look at publications is whether they are peer-reviewed, current, thoroughly developed, or modifiable. These factors are not necessarily exclusive to one another, but may impact whether you would want to use them. And of course your opinion of the utility of and accuracy of the textbook is very important.
Open Textbook Library: Hosted by University of Minnesota, the Open Textbook Library provides links to a number of open access titles in Law and other fields. The books are from a variety of publishers and authors. University of Minnesota has long been a supporter of online open access materials, including being partners in the incorporation of CALI. Open Textbook Library emphasizes the inclusion of open license books that are free to be modified.
Below are some links to sample searches in the Open Textbook Library:
CALI: eLangdell Books. CALI has been around for 40 years, and while CALI's emphasis is on interactive online legal education, it also publishes open-access, peer-reviewed books. Some of the books may integrate interactive lessons along with the more traditional casebook format. Besides their books, you may want to separately consider CALI's lessons as a resource to supplement your instruction.
Below are links to some sample searches for CALI books:
MIT Press: Open Casebook Series. MIT Press is working with Harvard Law School Library to publish open access textbooks from expert authors. These books have the advantage of being from an established publisher and being available in print. As of May 2024, there are two law casebooks published, Torts! (3d ed., 2022) and Contracts: Happiness and Heartbreak ( 3d ed., 2023). These two titles look to have been originally developed in H20 and are also available there currently. Please keep checking the Open Casebook Series though, because there may be more coming.
Semaphore Press: Semaphore Press is a small publisher that has been around since 2008. They ask students to pay what they choose, although the suggested contribution is $30.
H20: H20 is a casebook development platform that helps authors create and share works. It is developed and maintained by Harvard Law School Library, and works in conjunction with their Caselaw Access Project. You can create your own textbook here or find a textbook you can use. These books have not necessarily been through a review process, but some may have been (see MIT Press examples). H20 provides a broad range of subject matters and texts, but some books may simply be a list of elided cases on subjects. You may find that to be enough, or even preferable, and be willing to fill in the explanations to the class yourself. However, if you want a more detailed book, you may find another one has explanations or review questions to go along with the cases.
Below are some sample searches for H20 books:
