The Mt. SAC bookstore, SacBookRac, has partnered with VitalSource, an online platform which provides students and educators access to immersive and engaging digital content, to offer free textbooks in the form of e-books to students.

Mt. SAC, along with numerous other schools across the country, has been impacted by the recent shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this partnership is one way students can continue to have access to books without being on campus physically. Through this partnership, Mt. SAC students can access an expansive, curated catalog of e-books from participating publishers for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, which for Mt. SAC, officially ends on June 14, 2020.

But, according to the VitalSource website, they are only offering their expansive catalog through May 25, 2020, three weeks before Mt. SAC officially ends their spring semester.

Computer science major Ramil Tajan, 22, said that he will be using VitalSource extensively.

“I always go to the library at school to use the textbook for my science class but when I looked at VitalSource, the textbook is available there so I don’t have to buy the book anymore,” Tajan said.

When a student signs up for VitalSource, they will be limited to seven items they can borrow. Tajan said that he is okay with that arrangement because he doesn’t need more than seven books at the same time.

Jossan Alba, 26, mathematics major, shared the same sentiment as Tajan.

She said, “I’m grateful that they made this partnership because now, I don’t have to worry about going to the school library to do my homework.” She added that her concerns of infecting her loved ones by being outside during the pandemic has subsided.

“I’m more than okay with using an e-book rather than being on campus, especially after finding out that there was someone who was infected with coronavirus there,” Alba said.

Some students are also happy that SacBookRac created this partnership because with the unforeseen nature of the pandemic, their financial situations are not as stable as before. Fire technology and EMS major Matthew Gould, 22, said that he is grateful and will use the platform to access the books he needs.

“It’s difficult for me to get books, because I don’t make a lot of money, but this partnership seems like a good way to make up for moving all the classes to online,” Gould said. He added that he hopes that VitalSource will have all the books the students need.

Students can create and register for a VitalSource account here.