Free College Textbooks to Make School Easier

Let’s paint this scenario: You exhale a sigh of relief after you’ve paid your tuition, dorm fees, and meal plan. You’re relieved because you think your college expenses are over. You might have even gone ahead to apply for scholarships and student loans, excited to start the semester! In your excitement, something must have escaped your mind; Textbooks! And this is exactly where this article on free college textbooks will come in handy!

In our search, we discovered various websites provide free college textbooks to students online. As you may know, textbooks can be quite expensive, and after you’ve paid for all of the other costs associated with higher education, the last thing you want to do is spend more money on something you won’t use for more than a semester.

Below are some reputable websites that offer free college textbooks

Top 10 Free College Textbooks

1. Bookboon

Bookboon was founded in 2005 and has since grown to become the world’s largest eBook provider. They provide a vast selection of online books for college students and have over 1,000 college and university textbooks available for free download.

Students studying STEM subjects or business may find this site especially useful, as it was originally designed with these subjects in mind.

Students can pick up where they left off with bookmark tools and a memo pad for taking notes, and it is compatible with laptops, tablets, and cellphones.

Because Bookboon is a cloud-based medium, no installation is required, making it one of the most efficient resources available to students today.

Without a doubt, Bookboon tops our list for one of the free college textbooks.

2. OpenStax

OpenStax, a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 by Rice University and supported by Bill Gates and others, provides relevant, peer-reviewed texts from some of the country’s top universities.

OpenStax has one of the most comprehensive collections of free college textbooks covering subjects such as math, physics, biology, social sciences, humanities, business, and more (most of which are completely free).

The site is used by nearly 4,000 schools in the United States, and it is used by over 2.2 million students worldwide.

As the demand for more subjects grows, OpenStax’s library continues to expand. They plan to expand into computer and data sciences, nursing, and liberal arts textbooks in the near future.

3. Saylor

While many other websites for textbooks focus on the most popular degree programs, Saylor Academy goes a step further by providing an impressive repository of eBooks for students in less traditional programs such as Online Marketing and social media.

Most of the books on this website are available in PDF, EPUB, and Microsoft Word formats.

Saylor Academy offers over 100 free courses that are transferable to more than 30 partner schools. Since 2008, the self-paced courses and certificates have provided students with a low-cost alternative to traditional classroom education.

4. Betterworldbooks

Betterworldbooks might not exactly offer free college textbooks, but you will be able to textbooks at a discounted rate.

They have the most affordable prices around, and every purchase helps provide reading materials for schools worldwide in need, hence their name!

This site will come in handy when you are not able to get a particular textbook free. In such a case, you might as well try to get it at a discounted rate to a company that gives back!

5. Library Genesis

This is probably one of the free college textbooks because it covers a wide of subjects. Library Genesis is a website that allows you to share scholarly articles, academic books, novels, comic books, and magazines.

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It’s laid out in a format similar to traditional college libraries, with searches based on author, ISBN, year, and so on. The download process is simple. You can either search for a specific title or see what’s new.

6. Mobilism

Mobilism is a community forum where users can share media that they already own with others. There are several categories to choose from, but the eBook section is where we are most interested.

You can get any type of book on this site ranging from novels, academic textbooks, comic books; you name it. In addition, you have the option of requesting a title if it is not already available.

7. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a community effort to create and distribute free eBooks. If you require a text in the public domain, you will undoubtedly find it here, formatted and ready to download at your leisure. Project Gutenberg primarily offers Western-culture fiction, but it also has a large collection of reference books.

8. VK.Com

VK.com is a Russian social media platform that functions similarly to Facebook. There is, however, something distinct about it. While Facebook focuses on social interaction, VK has a large community of people who share various types of media.

eBooks are one of the main attractions for VK users, so create an account and start joining various book clubs.

9. Archive.Org

Archive.org, as the name implies, is a repository for all things the Internet. You can find deleted YouTube videos, lost documents, and any other media that cannot be found elsewhere. Many students, however, use this platform to back up their digital textbooks. One feature that distinguishes this website is that it provides many different formats for the documents you wish to download, eliminating the need to convert them yourself.

Free College Textbooks Pdf

As you may know, PDF stands for portable document format.  Because of the recent Covid-19 virus, many schools are opting for online classes at home. Electronic textbooks, on the other hand, are necessary for many students. You can download the PDF textbook in this case. Using PDF textbooks is not only eco-friendly, but it also saves you money.

Most of the sites discussed above offer textbooks on PDF. Other sites like Open Textbook Library, ScholarWorks, PDF Search Engine, Textbooksfree, and Free Kids books are some sites that provide free college textbooks in PDF.

Free College Textbooks Reddit

Reddit is essentially a vast group of forums where registered users may discuss practically everything, from news to pop culture, technology, comics, cinema, and literature.

Just like social media forums, Reddit can be a productivity drain, but it’s a terrific way to find websites that provide free college textbooks.

There are many literary subreddits, each with a somewhat different focus. You can select a community of readers that meets your needs, from general book conversations to genre-specific ones. Many book-related subreddits offer their own book clubs or author AMAs, which might inspire you and help you step outside of your reading comfort zone.

Free College Textbooks Online

Online students do not have to go through the stress of carrying textbooks since all of their classes and learning are done online.

As a result, instead of textbooks, distance and online learning students utilize PDF in place of college textbooks, which they also pay for.

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Below are some websites that offer free college textbooks online.

  • Library Genesis
  • OpenStax
  • Open Textbook Library
  • ScholarWorks
  • Bookboon
  • PDF Search Engine
  • FreeBookSpot
  • FreeTechBooks
  • Project Gutenberg
  • Textbook Revolution
  • Bookyards
  • eBookLobby
  • PDF Grab
  • Stuvera
  • Digital Book Index

Bill and Melinda Gates Free College Textbooks

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and numerous other foundations fund OpenStax, a nonprofit organization based at Rice University that strives to give students access to educational resources.

The charity collaborates with colleges to “create high-quality, peer-reviewed textbooks that are free online and low-cost in print” for specific courses:

The partnership program at OpenStax is intended to give free consultation to schools interested in increasing the use of OER [Open Educational Resource] on campus and developing a community of institutions committed to lowering the cost of course materials through the usage of OER. Selected universities were expected to demonstrate their commitment to adopting open educational resources (OER) to increase student achievement and graduation rates.

Free Online Library

Free Online Library

When we think of a library, we immediately envision dusty books on wooden shelves in a vast room with an ancient librarian in a tweed coat.

Well, while we still have some libraries like that, technology has made everything easier.

Reading and gaining access to information has never been easier. As soon as you have access to the Internet, you can enjoy the luxury of reading whether you are at home or elsewhere in the globe.

Below are some free online libraries you should definitely check out!

1. National Digital Library of India

The National Digital Library of India is an online repository of educational resources such as books, journals, data sets, audiobooks, lectures, video lectures, presentations, notes, question papers, and solutions in fields such as law, medicine, humanities, sciences, engineering, literature, and management.

2. Open Library

Open Library, which was founded in 2008, now has over 20 million records. It is a collaboration between the California State Library and the Kahle-Austin Foundation. Open Library is the destination for book enthusiasts looking for free online libraries because it provides open and free access to the books available on the website.

3. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg contains over 60,000 free eBooks to readers, making it one of the most popular free online libraries. Donations support project Gutenberg; every content is freely accessible to the public. Books can be downloaded onto mobile phones, laptop computers, and Kindle e-readers.

4. Read Print

Another free online library on our list is Read Print, which is regarded as one of Time Magazine’s 50 finest websites. It is an internet site that provides thousands of free books as well as recommendations for new novels to read. Furthermore, the reader can participate in a variety of reading clubs and discussion forums.

5. Questia

Questia provides readers with access to about 5,000 public domain works. Its website includes periodicals and magazines in addition to books. However, in order to utilize the website’s premium research features, you must be a member.

6. California Digital Library (CDL)

This is the perfect website for persons who prefer the feel of paper while reading. The California Digital Library employs high-resolution scanned pages of hardcovers with an interface that allows users to flip between the pages, giving the reader the feeling of reading a hardcover.

7. Internet Archive

Internet Archive is the place to go for students looking for a library that has everything ranging from books, music, videos, websites, and more – all for free. It has millions of books, making it an excellent choice for those seeking knowledge.

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8. World Digital Library

Persons who enjoy reading historical and intercultural writings will be interested in the World Digital Library, a United States Library of Congress project. It contains literature from over 193 countries dating from 800 BCE to 2000 CE.

9. Authorama

Authorama is one of the top free online libraries for individuals who enjoy perusing fictitious stories, offering a large number of works from prominent authors all over the world! It offers a wealth of public domain books that are available in XHTML format.

10. The Literature Network

This is another well-known name among our top recommendations for free online libraries. This site offers thousands of poetries, short tales, novellas, and novels! It also includes reader reviews from all over the world and quizzes to make it a fun reading experience for everyone!

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Can I Download College Textbooks for Free?

This post has provided a comprehensive list of sites where you can download thousands of college textbooks free! So, with either your smartphone or laptop, you can easily access thousands of college textbooks, saving you lots of money in the long run.

Why College Textbooks Should Be Free?

College textbooks should be free for students attending college since they eventually become overwhelmed with enormous debt. Many students cannot pay for textbooks at the snap of a finger, and textbook costs significantly affect students’ class choices.

More so, textbooks are required for most college subjects in order to pass. The purpose of textbooks is to educate pupils, not to increase the value of the books.

By the end of a four-year college degree, the average student would owe a stunning $30,000 in student loans. This $30,000 debt usually takes about 21 years to pay off completely, now including the cost of textbooks to this debt.

Since 1980, textbook expenses for college students have increased by 81 percent due to an increase in the number of students attending college. These large rises in book prices definitely do not sit well with individuals who need to buy books. Buyers frequently have to overpay for a book, even if it is only used for two pages in some circumstances. When students sell their textbooks back to the institution, they receive less than half of their money back. With these rates, as well as exorbitant tuition and additional university fees, these young adults require as much money as they can get.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can now find new ways to get your reading done for free without breaking the bank.

College is difficult, but we can make it easier if we work together. We hope this post on free college textbooks was quite helpful to you.

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