The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana is a non-profit organization that supports collaboration for library and information services for 23 colleges, universities and seminaries throughout the state. From its inception in 1992, the PALNI collaboration has been an avenue for its supported institutions to contain costs while providing more effective library services. Photo from PALNI.

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana has received a $1.34 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to launch the next phase of its PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning Program.

The four-year initiative, titled “Strengthening the PALSave Affordable Learning Program for Greater Impact,” will build on reducing textbook costs, expanding access to learning materials, and empowering faculty across Indiana’s private higher education sector to adopt and create open educational resources.

Since its inception in 2019, PALSave has eliminated over $3.3 million in textbook costs in more than 53,000 student enrollments through the adoption of zero-cost course materials. Faculty from PALNI’s 23 supported institutions have implemented 417 course transformations and authored 13 open-access textbooks used in classrooms across Indiana and beyond.

The program has delivered an 857% return on investment through course redesign stipends, enhanced the skills of librarians, faculty, and instructional technologists, and fostered a thriving community dedicated to affordable, accessible education.

“Accessing course materials for free saves students money, relieves financial stress, and helps them succeed academically,” says PALNI Scholarly Communications Director and PALSave Program Lead Amanda Hurford. “These factors highlight the need for our program to continue deeply engaging faculty in education about OER, simplify the process of locating free-to-student texts and designing courses with them, and expand opportunities to adopt, adapt, create, and update OER.”

Sustaining Momentum, Tackling New Challenges

The next phase of PALSave will continue core textbook affordability efforts while addressing emerging needs. With this new funding, PALNI will:

• Build awareness through a multi-campus campaign to educate students, faculty, and administrators about zero-cost resources.
• Increase OER availability via a sustainable publishing program with the PALNI Open Press to support new textbook creation and ancillary materials.
• Support OER sustainability and quality by developing a structured workflow and stipend program for updating and adapting existing open textbooks.
• Add capacity for faculty engagement with a new toolkit offering clear pathways to participate in affordability initiatives, including recognition and potential fellowships.
• Address automatic billing practices by creating a guide to help campuses evaluate textbook affordability models, including inclusive access and OER.

“These initiatives are designed to address real barriers faculty and students face — from a lack of awareness to limited availability of open materials,” says Hurford. “Thanks to Lilly Endowment’s continued support, we can scale our solutions and support deeper institutional change.”

Lilly Endowment Inc. provided initial funding of $520,000 in 2019 to launch the PALSave program, followed by a $275,000 grant in 2022 to extend its reach. With this new $1.34 million grant, total funding from Lilly Endowment for PALSave now exceeds $2.1 million.

Learn more about PALSave by visiting the program website.

View an infographic for Strengthening the PALSave Affordable Learning Program for Greater Impact 2025-2029.