Section 136F.58 Bookstores; Course Material Acquisition

MINNESOTA STATUTES AND CODES

Section 136F.58 Bookstores; Course Material Acquisition

136F.58 BOOKSTORES; COURSE MATERIAL ACQUISITION.

Subdivision 1.Authorization.

A state college or university may operate a bookstore in a state college or university building, or may allocate space in a state college or university building and permit a person or corporation to operate a bookstore without rent at the campus' pleasure and on such conditions as the board may impose. The board may provide insurance, at no cost to the state, for the inventory of a bookstore a state college or university conducts in its building.

Subd. 2.Course material.

(a) An instructor shall attempt to provide adequate notice to a bookstore of the intention to order required or recommended course material so that the bookstore can provide information for the instructor's consideration prior to placing an order for the course material.

(b) A bookstore must make reasonable efforts to obtain from publishers or other sources, prior to the time an instructor requests the bookstore to order course material, the following information, including, but not limited to:

(1) the title, edition, author, and International Standard Book Number (ISBN) of the course material;

(2) the price for the course material;

(3) whether the course material is bundled with optional material, whether it can be unbundled, and the price for each bundled and unbundled component;

(4) whether the material is available in an alternative format and the cost for the alternatively formatted material;

(5) the availability of the course material currently and in the future;

(6) changes to the course material from the previous edition, the revision date, availability, and cost for that edition, if available; and

(7) any known plans for future revisions of the course material.

(c) An instructor ordering course material through a bookstore shall consider the information received from the bookstore prior to placing the final order.

Subd. 3.Notice to purchase.

(a) An instructor shall make reasonable efforts to notify a bookstore of the final order for required and recommended course material at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the term.

(b) The bookstore must make reasonable efforts to notify students of the following information concerning the required and recommended course material at least 15 days prior to the commencement of the term for which the course material is required including, but not limited to:

(1) the title, edition, author, and International Standard Book Number (ISBN) of the course material;

(2) the price for the course material;

(3) whether the required course material is bundled with optional material, whether it can be unbundled, and the price for each bundled and unbundled component; and

(4) whether the material is available in an alternative format and the cost for the alternatively formatted material.

Subd. 4.System responsibility.

The board shall, to the extent it considers necessary, adopt uniform forms for bookstores to request information under subdivision 2. The board shall encourage faculty to utilize the information received under subdivision 2 to achieve the lowest cost to students for course materials consistent with the academic freedom and choice of the faculty member.