Preface

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Having had the opportunity to teach out of Libro Libre as a Spanish instructor for Spokane Community College, I was thrilled with the design, layout, methodology, and instructional practices laid out in the book. Aside from being an excellent resource, the textbook was completely free for students as an Open Educational Resource (OER) published under a CC BY- NC-SA 4.0 license.

When I was offered the opportunity to teach French at Spokane Community College, I immediately began looking for an equivalent textbook in French—a workbook style, communication-oriented textbook with opportunities for exchange of information and task-based activities. While there are other Open Educational Resources available, nothing I found hit all of the points I was looking for in a single textbook.

After careful consideration, and after beginning to plan my class around another textbook, I eventually found myself translating and adapting pages from Libro Libre that I felt neither I nor my students could live without.

I asked Erin Huebener, the author of Libro Libre (who has a message on the following page), for a meeting to discuss adapting her textbook for use in the French classroom. During that time, she informed me regarding her recent research and conference work, the purpose behind the changes she had made to the second edition, and the dollar amount that students had saved by having access to an Open Educational Resource instead of having to buy the traditional textbook.

I was astounded. Not only was this book the best compilation of activities and instruction I had used, but it was saving tens of thousands of dollars every academic year.

I decided in her office that I had to adapt Libro Libre for French. She graciously encouraged me to plod along in the trail she had staked in creating OERs. She has served as a marvelous guide and mentor along the way, and Livre Libre was born.

I dedicate enormous gratitude to Erin Huebener for paving the way in this endeavor, to Gwendolyn James, our Dean of Arts and Sciences at Spokane Community College, for backing this project and the French program as a whole, and for the administrators at Spokane Community College who agreed to fund this project.

I hope you enjoy working through Livre Libre as much as I enjoyed translating it and adapting it from its original version.

Sincerely,

Diamond Wilson, M.A.

French and Spanish Instructor

Spokane Community College