Sadly, it seems that Professor Cain (the editor of this page) passed away in 2015[1]. The page had disappeared from the gatech.edu servers at one point, and I was afraid that without Professor Cain's presence, it might not ever be restored. Happy to see that it's online again.
As an out-of-state student, it's hard to see the "budget" approach GT had. However, I will say that many of my professors were well aware of the costs of textbooks, and rarely did it feel like we were required to buy ridiculously expensive books.
It also helps that the library checks out textbooks as well. I think they'll even obtain a copy of a textbook they don't have at the professor's request.
EDIT: Also, the the University System of Georgia has an exchange program that ships unique books between libraries in the state, though this isn't unique to Georgia.
Upperclassmen scared the bajeezus out of me when I got "Killer" Cain for calculus 3 my freshman year. The stories couldn't have been further from the truth - he was certainly tough, but also a fair, rigorous, and thorough teacher (if perhaps a bit impatient). I didn't realize he had passed...RIP, Dr. Cain.
[1]: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.a...