Why do we need to find a different approach with Elsevier?

In short, because the existing spending on Elsevier is disproportionately large compared to other academic publishers and is unsustainable for the CSU Libraries.  

The 23 California State University Libraries share the statement below as articulating the constraints we face in providing service to the students that is our mission.  While the Affordable Learning Solutions initiative promotes the adoption of low or no cost materials, students may still find themselves unable to pay for essential reading.  When instruction is on campus, libraries can provide short-term access to textbook and other resources through course reserves. To replicate this in a virtual environment, major publishers would need to allow libraries to purchase digital versions of textbooks, which they currently do not. The publishers’ failure to do so deprives students who cannot afford a personal digital edition of the resources essential to their pursuit of an education.  We thank our colleagues at the University of Guelph Libraries who shared their challenges and the librarians at Grand Valley State University for their eloquent statement.

The 23 California State University (CSU) Libraries are providing expanded support for our students and faculty as we move to a virtual instruction environment. While some steps are purely local, two critical measures result from a system-wide collaboration:

1. provision of a rich array of expanded, full-text databases and
2. an extension of library circulation due dates for library materials (books, media, hardware, and more) and dismissal of library fines for continuing students, faculty, staff, and community users.

We are pleased to announce that the California State University has finalized a two-year ScienceDirect contract with Elsevier. In this impactful move, the CSU Libraries have agreed to a Read and Publish-Plus agreement with substantial savings, additional content, and a vision that moves the CSU Libraries and Elsevier towards a new model of academic publishing.

See Previous Elsevier FAQs. The CSU Libraries are negotiating terms of renewal with the publisher Elsevier, one of the world’s largest scientific, technical, and medical information publishers. These negotiations have carried forward into 2020.