UC Irvine estimates that the yearly cost of books and supplies is $1,346 per student, on top of tuition and living expenses. When students cannot afford the course materials they need, they may resort to using out-of-date materials or foregoing materials all together, which can impact their learning outcomes.

In March 2021, UCI Libraries launched the Oral History Toolkit – a free, digital resource designed to empower UCI affiliates and Orange County community members to conduct their own oral history interview or implement a large-scale project to document a community or historical event. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, requests for remote consultations and training in oral history projects from Libraries’ patrons greatly increased.