In Brazil the university libraries are expected to make available every book that is necessary for a course.
That makes for a lot of very interesting behaviors, like compiling "exercise equivalence tables" between different editions of a book, and students having a culture of self-organizing around the library sharing availability.
I believe if I had to buy all the books I used, the cost would be similar to rent.
I've never seen "exercise equivalence tables" in the US - that's a great idea! I suppose if pirated PDFs are accessible, this isn't necessary any more.
That makes for a lot of very interesting behaviors, like compiling "exercise equivalence tables" between different editions of a book, and students having a culture of self-organizing around the library sharing availability.
I believe if I had to buy all the books I used, the cost would be similar to rent.