 So dear legislators, since 2006, the cost of textbooks has increased four times the rate of inflation. The textbook market does not function like others, where companies compete for their share fare of the market and the laws of supply and demand affect the price of the product. In contrast, students must purchase the materials assigned by a professor who may or may not be considering price among other factors when assigning materials. While students can save money with some types of digital materials and through the used books market, publishers have found ways to keep prices high and diminish the cost of saving the impact of these alternatives. Many professors who dub publisher materials for their courses now require students to purchase more. Massachusetts public higher education students spend an average of $1,200 per year on textbooks, more than the cost of two three credit community college courses. We need to make a change. I am asking you to advocate on our behalf to increase funding on open educational resources for wider implementation. As a representative of my voice in the state legislator, I am asking you to preserve and promote the three R's of social justice. First, the redistributive justice allocation of material or human resources towards those who by circumstance have less. Second, the recognitive justice recognition and respect for cultural and gender differences. Third, the representational justice equitable representation and political voice. These three R's come together under the OER umbrella to give students the opportunities they need and deserve. Do you think it's easy for me and my peers to have to choose between food, rent and clothing all together and the cost of educational materials? The mind over matter idiom does not work in this case. I cannot attend a class with a full backpack but an empty stomach. Be a part of the change. List your name under those who gave the most vulnerable students the chance to an affordable and equitable education. Thank you.