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White PALSave logo against green backgroundPALNI Affordable Learning Program

Graphic that reads PALSave Textbook Creation Grants: Receive up to $6,500 for your project! With a photo of an ebook sliding out of a bookshelf filled with print books

Ebook cover for The Bible and Music depicting an illustration of a Medieval character playing a harpTextbook Creation Grants

Write, publish, share.

Note: PALSave is not currently accepting proposals for Textbook Creation Grants.

With support from Lilly Endowment, Inc., the PALSave Textbook Creation Grants Program funds the creation of new OER textbooks. These resources become freely available on the web, reducing costs to students enrolled in courses in the future. 

“The chance first to teach a course on the Bible and music, then write a cutting-edge textbook on the topic, has been a dream come true. Writing the book has given me the opportunity to share what I have learned and what I teach, and to make it available not just for my future students, but anyone interested.” — James McGrath, Ph.D., Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University

Funded projects

Congratulations to our current and past Textbook Creation Grant-funded authors! View the PALNI Open Press Community Catalog for grant-funded textbooks and other openly published content.

2023 cohort

Butler University

Marian University

2024 cohort

Anderson University (formerly)

Franklin College

2025 cohort

DePauw University

  • Humberto Barretto — "Gateway to Business Analytics with Microsoft Excel"

Huntington University

  • Karen Jones — "Curriculum Development for Christian Ministry"

Marian University (formerly)

  • Mark Latta et al. — "Social Action Writing: Public Narratives and Methods of Community"

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

  • Jennie Mitchell and Trent Deckard — "Leveraging Data Visualization to Communicate Effectively"

Saint Mary's College

  • Vanessa Hilliard et al. — "Comparative Vertebrate and Human Anatomy: Ecology, Evolution, and Function"

Taylor University (formerly)

  • Angela Pacheco-Gonzalez — "Cultures and Civilizations of the Hispanic Countries"

University of Indianapolis

  • Laura Merrifield Wilson and Greg Shufeldt — "The Exciting Dynamics of State and Local Government"

Wabash College

  • Jennifer Abbott et al.— "Public Speaking and Democratic Participation: Speech, Deliberation, and Analysis in the Civic Realm, 2nd ed."

About the program

With support from Lilly Endowment Inc., PALNI's PALSave Textbook Creation Grant Program awards funding (up to a maximum of $5,000 with a cap of $6,500 per proposal) to faculty members from PALNI-supported institutions to create open textbooks.

Faculty are periodically invited to submit creation grant proposals for the courses they teach. Textbooks may cover any discipline at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. PALNI seeks proposals for textbooks geared toward specific fields of study that meet the inclusion criteria for the Open Textbook Library. 

The PALNI Open Educational Resource (OER) Publishing Task Force selects projects for funding based on proposal quality, clearly defined goals, need within the current open access body of work, and adoption potential within PALNI schools and beyond.

PALNI coordinates peer review, copyediting, layout, and hosting services to assist grant recipients in their textbook creation. Each textbook is also supported by a local project manager to monitor progress and answer questions throughout development. The open textbooks are published on the PALNI Press-supported Pressbooks platform alongside other faculty-contributed works and are ultimately submitted to the Open Textbook Library and OER repositories.

For questions about the program, or the requirements, please contact us.

Program resources (licensed CC BY)

The following resources are available to those interested in learning more about PALSave Textbooks Creation Grants and developing OER.