II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1714 

To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption of open textbooks, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption 

of open textbooks, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open College Textbook 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The growth of the Internet has enabled the 

9 creation and sharing of open content, including open 

10 educational resources. 


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1 (2) The President has proposed a new, signifi2 cant Federal investment in the creation of online 

3 open-source courses for community colleges that will 

4 make learning more accessible, adaptable, and af5 fordable for students. 

6 (3) The President has challenged the United 

7 States with a goal of having the highest college 

8 graduation rate in the world by 2020. 

9 (4) More than 80 percent of the 23,000,000 

10 jobs that will be created in the next 10 years will re11 quire postsecondary education, but only 36 percent 

12 of all 18- to 24-year-olds are currently enrolled in 

13 postsecondary education. 

14 (5) The high cost of college textbooks continues 

15 to be a barrier for many students in achieving high16 er education, and according to the Advisory Com17 mittee on Student Financial Assistance, 200,000 

18 qualified students fail to enroll in college each year 

19 due to cost. 

20 (6) The College Board reported that for the 

21 2007–2008 academic year an average student spent 

22 an estimated $805 to $1,229 on college books and 

23 supplies. 

24 (7) Making high quality open textbooks freely 

25 available to the general public could significantly 


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1 lower college textbook costs and increase accessibility 

2 to such education materials. 

3 (8) Open textbooks can improve learning and 

4 teaching by creating course materials that are more 

5 flexible, adaptable, and accessible through the use of 

6 technology. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

10 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

11 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

12 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

15 (3) OPEN LICENSE.—The term ‘‘open license’’ 

16 means an irrevocable intellectual property license 

17 that grants the public the right to access, customize, 

18 and distribute a copyrighted material. 

19 (4) OPEN TEXTBOOK.—The term ‘‘open text20 book’’ means a textbook or set of course materials 

21 in electronic format designed for use in a college 

22 course at an institution of higher education that is 

23 licensed under an open license. 

24 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Education. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap3 propriated under subsection (i), the Secretary is author4 ized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

5 entities to carry out the activities described in this section, 

6 including creating, updating, or adapting open textbooks. 

7 The Secretary shall award grants in a manner that will 

8 result in the creation of a comprehensive slate of high 

9 quality course materials for introductory courses in a vari10 ety of subject areas. 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el12 igible entity’’ means— 

13 (1) an institution of higher education; 

14 (2) a professor or group of professors at an in15 stitution of higher education; or 

16 (3) a nonprofit or for-profit organization that 

17 produces open textbooks. 

18 (c) DURATION.—Grants awarded under this section 

19 shall be 1 year in duration. 

20 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 

22 a grant under this section shall submit an applica23 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

24 and accompanied by such information as the Sec25 retary may reasonably require. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall include a description of 

3 the project to be completed with grant funds and— 

4 (A) a plan for quality review and review of 

5 accuracy of content; 

6 (B) a plan for access to ensure the widest 

7 possible availability of the digital version of the 

8 open textbook; 

9 (C) a plan for distribution and adoption of 

10 the open textbook to ensure the widest possible 

11 adoption of the open textbook in postsecondary 

12 courses, including, where applicable, a mar13 keting plan or a plan to partner with for-profit 

14 or nonprofit organizations to assist in mar15 keting and distribution; and 

16 (D) a plan for tracking and reporting for17 mal adoptions of the open textbook within post18 secondary institutions, including an estimate of 

19 the number of students impacted by the adop20 tions. 

21 (e) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants 

22 under this section, the Secretary shall give special consid23 eration to applications that demonstrate the greatest po24 tential to produce— 


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1 (1) the highest quality and most marketable 

2 open textbooks; 

3 (2) open textbooks that correspond to the high4 est enrollment courses at institutions of higher edu5 cation; 

6 (3) open textbooks that are easily utilized by 

7 faculty members at institutions of higher education; 

8 and 

9 (4) open textbooks created in partnership with 

10 for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in 

11 marketing and distribution. 

12 (f) USES OF GRANTS.— 

13 (1) OPEN TEXTBOOKS.—An eligible entity that 

14 receives a grant under this section shall— 

15 (A) create a new open textbook for use in 

16 postsecondary coursework; 

17 (B) update an open textbook for use in 

18 postsecondary coursework; or 

19 (C) adapt a textbook into an open format 

20 for use in postsecondary coursework. 

21 (2) LICENSE.—An open textbook created, up22 dated, or adapted under paragraph (1) shall be li23 censed through an open license. 


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1 (3) ACCESSIBILITY.—The full and complete dig2 ital content of each open textbook created, updated, 

3 or adapted under paragraph (1) shall be— 

4 (A) posted on an easily accessible and 

5 interoperable website, which site shall be identi6 fied to the Secretary by the eligible entity; and 

7 (B) made available free of charge to, and 

8 may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, re9 vised, or otherwise altered by, any member of 

10 the general public. 

11 (g) REVIEW PROCESS.—The Secretary shall develop 

12 a peer review and evaluation process in consultation with 

13 the Director to ensure that open textbooks created, up14 dated, or adapted under this section are of the highest 

15 quality, accurate in content, and meet or exceed market 

16 quality and accessibility standards. 

17 (h) REPORT.—Upon an eligible entity’s completion of 

18 a project supported under this section, the eligible entity 

19 shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regard20 ing all project costs, including the value of any volunteer 

21 labor and institutional capital used for the project. 

22 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to carry 

24 out this section for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as 

25 are necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years. 


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1 SEC. 5. LICENSING MATERIALS WITH A FEDERAL CONNEC2 TION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, educational materials such as curricula and 

5 textbooks created through grants distributed by Federal 

6 agencies, including the National Science Foundation, for 

7 use in elementary, secondary, or postsecondary courses 

8 shall be licensed under an open license. 

9 (b) ACCESSIBILITY.—The full and complete digital 

10 content of each of the materials created as described in 

11 subsection (a) shall be— 

12 (1) posted on an easily accessible and interoper13 able website, which site shall be identified to the 

14 Secretary by the grant recipient; and 

15 (2) made available free of charge to, and may 

16 be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or 

17 otherwise altered by, any member of the general 

18 public. 

19 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher 

21 education should encourage the consideration of open text22 books by professors within the generally accepted prin23 ciples of academic freedom that established the right and 

24 responsibility of faculty members, individually and collec25 tively, to select course materials that are pedagogically 

26 most appropriate for their classes. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 Not later than September 30, 2015, the Secretary 

3 shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 

4 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

5 the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 

6 Representatives detailing— 

7 (1) the open textbooks created, updated, or 

8 adapted under this Act; 

9 (2) the adoption of such open textbooks; and 

10 (3) the savings generated for students, States, 

11 and the Federal Government though the use of open 

12 textbooks. 

Æ 


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