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.
