system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Can I tell my students NOT to buy a department-required book?

My department is requiring a truly awful handbook for one of the classes I'm teaching this fall. (I'm an adjunct, as well as a grad student in the department.) It is poorly organized and had little really relevant information. Other than this book, we can do anything with the course as long as it fulfills the learning objectives.

Will it be a huge problem for me if I tell my students NOT to purchase the book? It's about $75 afaik, which is a fair chunk of change for something I'm going to have to struggle to fit in to the course. I don't want to lose my job, though.

Thoughts? And thank you!
gpt
I have had professors say things like "this is the textbook the department requires you to buy for this unit. The exam will be based on lecture material, and the textbook is freely available in the reserve section of the library if you want to have a look at it".