The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) textbook regulations became mandatory July 2010.Approximately every 6 years, the United States Congress renews the Higher Education Act (HEA) exploring ways to improve the law. On August 14, 2008 the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 was signed into law and the textbook portion took effect July 2010. The National Association of College Stores (NACS) has put together a brief overview of the new HEOA law in regards to textbooks. The core theme of the new law is to empower consumers (students) with college cost information—including course materials. The intention of the textbook section of the new law is to give students access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs and enhancing transparency with respect to the selection, purchase, sale and use of course materials, as well as to encourage all parties (bookstores, faculty and publishers) to work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks while supporting the academic freedom of faculty. The university has named the SpiderShop as the official repository for this information, to keep us in line with the laws; we have to share with students what course materials necessary as soon as we are notified.

Click here to view the full HEOA document

• Our responsibility is to provide a list of courses in time for registration. This list displays the required or recommended/OPTIONAL materials, their associated costs, and several vendors’ prices in order to provide students a choice through transparency and cost comparison tools.
• The SpiderShop seeks to combat the ever-increasing cost of course materials by offering the lowest possible prices on textbooks, access codes and other items. Prices are controlled by publishers through setting discounts and wholesale costs. SpiderShop staff spend months searching for and ordering as many used books as possible. Early and on-time adoptions support our efforts by allowing time to secure lower priced books.

• Submit your course materials needs to the SpiderShop using our Verba adoption platform by the due date set each semester.
• Check your email for a personalized link that is sent twice a week (Monday and Wednesday) until a submission has been made before the deadline. Professors who do not require materials must notify the SpiderShop through the Verba link, by selecting “no text required”.
• Include the correct ISBN (International Standard Book Number) to ensure that the correct version and edition is ordered.
• Consider if the book is out of print. Out of print books may offer a lower cost to the student, but are not always widely available.

Email bookstore@richmond.edu or call 804-289-8491 and we will schedule a brief meeting with a member of the SpiderShop team.

The submission is accepted and ordered, but not guaranteed to arrive in the SpiderShop prior to the start of classes.

The materials will not be available in the SpiderShop. Your students will have to source the materials on their own.