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What is LibreTexts?
LibreTexts is a nonprofit open education resource (OER) platform where educators build, customize, and share textbooks, homework, and supporting course materials. It combines a large library of openly licensed textbooks with tools for remixing content and an adaptive homework system called ADAPT.
H3 What it offers
- Textbook libraries: Subject-based collections with thousands of textbooks, plus the ability to combine chapters from different books with your own material into a custom textbook.
- Homework and assessment: ADAPT lets instructors create adaptive assessments from a shared bank of openly licensed questions.
- Interactive materials: You can embed Jupyter Notebooks, homework questions, 3D visualizations, and videos directly into textbooks.
- Training and support: Professional development and help for institutions launching OER publishing or curriculum projects.
H3 Who it is for
- Instructors who want to lower or eliminate textbook costs while keeping control over course content.
- Students who need free, accessible course materials.
- Institutions and organizations running open education initiatives, publishing programs, or curriculum development projects.
H3 How it compares
| Need | LibreTexts approach |
|---|---|
| Ready-made textbooks | Large subject library, openly licensed |
| Custom course materials | Remix chapters from multiple sources with your own content |
| Homework and quizzes | ADAPT adaptive assessment system |
| Technical support | Training and development services for institutions |
A practical next step: if you teach a course with an expensive textbook, browse the relevant subject library, identify two or three chapters that match your syllabus, and test whether remixing them into a single custom text would work for your students. For a broader look at open textbooks, see OpenStax and OER Commons.
How can instructors customize open textbooks using LibreTexts?
Instructors can customize open textbooks on LibreTexts by remixing chapters from different books alongside their own material, then publishing the result as a tailored text for a course. The platform is built around that idea: it describes itself as a non-profit open education resource platform for creating, customizing, and sharing textbooks, adaptive homework, and ancillary materials.
The customization workflow
A practical sequence for an instructor:
- Pick a starting point. Browse one of the 17 subject libraries and the 2,000-plus textbooks, or begin from your own draft.
- Remix. Combine chapters from multiple textbooks with your own content to build a custom book, rather than adopting one title wholesale.
- Add interactive elements. Embed Jupyter Notebooks, ADAPT homework questions, 3D visualizations, and videos directly into the textbook.
- Build assessments. In ADAPT, draw on a shared question bank of openly licensed elements or write your own, then attach them to the text.
- Distribute. Publish through the platform's repositories so students reach the material without purchasing a commercial textbook.
What this looks like in practice
Suppose you teach an introductory statistics course but no single open textbook matches your syllabus. You could take the probability chapters from one book, regression from another, and write a short module on a topic specific to your department. You then embed a handful of ADAPT questions after each section so students check understanding as they read, and add a Jupyter Notebook for a data-analysis exercise.
Trade-offs to weigh
| Choice | Gain | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Remix from many sources | Precise syllabus fit | More editing time; you must check licensing and coherence |
| Use pre-built ADAPT questions | Fast setup, large bank | Less control over wording and difficulty calibration |
| Embed notebooks and visualizations | Richer, active learning | Requires technical comfort and testing across devices |
| Publish your own version | Full ownership of the sequence | You maintain updates and errata |
Who benefits most
This approach suits instructors at institutions running open-education initiatives, multi-section courses needing a common text, and anyone teaching a niche course with no affordable commercial option. It is less appealing if you want a finished, maintenance-free textbook — customization shifts ongoing responsibility to you.
Next step: choose one course, identify the two or three chapters you would replace first, and test the remix and embed tools on that small piece before committing to a full book. For broader context on open resources, see LibreTexts and OER Commons.
What is ADAPT and how does it support adaptive homework and assessments?
ADAPT is LibreTexts' homework and assessment system, built to create adaptive, customizable assessments from a shared bank of openly licensed questions. According to the site, that bank includes more than 240,000 elements, and new question and activity types are continually being added. It combines pre-built assessments with personalized learning models, so instructors can align questions closely with their own curriculum.
How it supports adaptive homework
- Shared question bank: Instructors start from a large pool of openly licensed questions rather than writing everything from scratch.
- Adaptive assessments: The system uses personalized learning models, so question selection can respond to student performance instead of giving everyone an identical fixed set.
- Customization: You can adjust content to match your course, and the platform supports a growing range of question and activity types.
- Embedding: ADAPT questions can be embedded directly into LibreTexts textbooks, alongside Jupyter Notebooks, videos and 3D visualizations, so reading and practice can sit in one place.
Who it suits
It is aimed at educators and institutions that want open, remixable course materials with integrated practice. A community college instructor teaching a large introductory course could assign a pre-built ADAPT set, remove questions that do not match the syllabus, and let the adaptive model direct extra practice to students who miss a concept. A department building its own OER textbook could embed those questions in the relevant chapters.
Trade-offs to weigh
The main appeal is cost savings and openness, but adaptive systems still depend on question quality and coverage. Before adopting it, check whether the shared bank covers your specific topics and question formats, and whether the adaptive behavior matches how you grade. If your course relies on highly specialized or essay-style assessment, you may need to add your own questions.
A useful next step is to browse the ADAPT question bank for one unit you teach, then build a small trial assignment and compare student results with your current homework. For the wider textbook side, see LibreTexts.
How do schools or organizations partner with LibreTexts to launch open education initiatives?
Schools and organizations typically partner with LibreTexts in one of three ways: adopting existing open textbooks, joining a collaborative publishing program, or building a custom initiative with LibreTexts' training and technology support.
Partnership paths
- Adopt and customize existing OER. Instructors pick from 17 subject libraries and over 2,000 textbooks, then remix chapters from different books with their own material to create a custom textbook. This is the lightest-touch path and often the starting point for a department or single course.
- Join an institutional publishing program. LibreTexts collaborates with organizations to support institutional publishing, curriculum development projects, and open education initiatives. This suits schools that want a branded, sustainable OER program rather than isolated adoptions.
- Launch a project with development support. The "Development" track helps the community launch new projects through content creation and technology development, while the "Training" track provides professional development so staff and faculty can use the LibreTexts ecosystem confidently.
- Use the technology stack. Partners can build on the LibreVerse ecosystem, including ADAPT for adaptive homework and a shared question bank, plus interactive materials such as Jupyter Notebooks, 3D visualizations, and videos embedded directly in textbooks.
A practical decision guide
| If your goal is... | Start with... |
|---|---|
| Cut textbook costs in one course | Remixing an existing library textbook |
| Build a department-wide OER program | Institutional publishing collaboration |
| Create new OER where none exists | Development support plus training |
| Improve assessment and homework | ADAPT and the shared question bank |
Concrete scenario
A community college wants to replace a $200 introductory statistics textbook. A faculty lead could remix chapters from an existing statistics text, add locally relevant case studies and lab experiments, then move homework into ADAPT. The library and training teams support the rollout, and the institution tracks student savings as the program scales.
Next step
Contact LibreTexts through LibreTexts to discuss which track fits your institution, and bring a specific course or department as the pilot. A narrow first project makes it easier to measure savings and adoption before expanding.
What training and professional development does LibreTexts offer for educators?
LibreTexts offers professional development aimed at helping educators use its open education resource (OER) platform confidently. The emphasis is on practical skills: building, adapting, and maintaining OER textbooks, homework, and ancillary materials, rather than general theory about open education.
What the training covers
According to the site, LibreTexts provides training as one of its four main service areas, alongside content, technology, and development. Its stated goal is to equip the community with the skills and confidence to use the "LibreVerse" — the ecosystem of interconnected open-source tools behind the platform. In practice, that means sessions and support oriented toward:
- Creating and remixing textbooks — assembling a custom book from existing chapters, your own material, and content across the 17 subject libraries.
- Building homework and assessments — using the ADAPT system, which draws on a large shared bank of openly licensed questions.
- Adding interactive elements — embedding Jupyter Notebooks, ADAPT questions, 3D visualizations, and videos directly into textbook pages.
- Launching institutional projects — support for departments or organizations starting their own OER publishing or curriculum development programs.
Formats and scheduling
LibreTexts runs a monthly webinar series, and its events page lists upcoming and completed events. This suggests a mix of recurring introductory sessions and one-off workshops. For educators, the recurring webinar is the lowest-commitment entry point; deeper, project-specific training appears to be tied to institutional collaborations.
Who it suits
| Audience | Likely fit |
|---|---|
| Instructor new to OER | Monthly webinars to see whether the platform matches your course needs |
| Instructor ready to adopt or adapt a textbook | Training on remixing and customizing existing library content |
| Department or institution | Collaborative support for publishing programs and curriculum projects |
| Anyone needing assessment tooling | ADAPT-focused guidance on question banks and adaptive homework |
A practical next step
Check the events page for the next monthly webinar and register before committing to a larger project. If you already have a specific course in mind, bring one syllabus or textbook table of contents to the session — it makes the remixing and customization guidance far more concrete, and you will leave knowing whether LibreTexts' tools fit your workflow. For a broader view of the platform, see LibreTexts.
How much can students save by using LibreTexts instead of traditional textbooks?
LibreTexts' own homepage claims student savings of $75M+ across its platform, alongside 500+ schools and organizations, 3,000+ textbooks, and 300K+ homework questions. That figure is an aggregate across the whole community, not a per-student guarantee, so it is best read as a scale indicator rather than a promise of what any one learner will save.
What the number actually means
The savings total reflects the cumulative cost students would otherwise have paid for commercial textbooks that have been replaced by openly licensed material on the platform. Savings per student depend entirely on:
- Which courses at your institution have adopted LibreTexts or another open resource
- The list price of the commercial textbook that was replaced
- Whether the replacement covers the whole course or only part of the assigned reading
A student whose chemistry, calculus, and psychology courses all use open texts may avoid several hundred dollars in a term. A student in a department still using commercial titles may save nothing at all.
A practical way to check your own case
- Ask each instructor whether the assigned text is open, and where to find it.
- Compare the assigned commercial title's list price against the free version's coverage — chapter count, problem sets, and whether homework is included.
- Check whether your course uses ADAPT, LibreTexts' homework system, since assessment access is often a separate cost in commercial bundles.
Whose observation this is
The $75M+ figure is LibreTexts' own claim about its platform, not an independent audit. Treat it as marketing-adjacent evidence of adoption scale. The more useful signal for a student is the per-course adoption list, which individual institutions and instructors can confirm directly.
Where to look next
Start with the LibreTexts textbook libraries at LibreTexts to see whether your subject area is covered, then compare against what your syllabus actually assigns. If your campus runs an open-education program, its office can usually tell you which courses have already switched — that is the fastest route to a realistic savings estimate for your own schedule.
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