2008 Woodie Awards
Bookstore blues: where did my textbook go?
Director of Auxilary Services says that students' relationship with bookstore is a "win-win-win situation"
Jon Miller
Issue date:
4/23/08
Section:
Opinion
As a student I find it frustrating when our college bookstore does not have enough inventory to supply me with the textbooks I need for my classes, a problem most students can relate to.
I find it even more frustrating when, after sacrificing an arm and a leg and my first born just to get my books, my class as a whole is still held back because half of the class hasn't been able to buy their books.
Naturally, as most students do, I blame the bookstore. But it turns out I should be blaming myself - the student.
Charm Mello, assistant bookstore manager for Olympic College, said the bookstore spends a lot of time figuring out exactly how many books each class will need and the goal is to not have one book too many or be one book short.
When shortages or overages do occur, it's not because Mello can't count, but students can't make up their mind about what class to take.
When students add or drop a class or enroll late they screw up the count. To compound the problem, waitlist students sometimes buy books early before they even get into a class while the students that are in the class wait until the last second to find that the 30 books that were bought for the class are all gone.
As if the problem wasn't complex enough, sometimes when waitlists are long enough the college will add another section of a class, creating a greater demand for the same textbook even after it has already been sold out and reordered.
Denis Snyder, director of Auxiliary Services at OC, said the solution starts with the students. Always sell your books back to the college.
"It's a win - win - win situation," Snyder said because the student gets 50 - 75 percent of the cost of the book back, the bookstore has one more book on the shelf and the next student gets the used book cheaper than if it was new.
Another thing students can do is be loyal to their college bookstore and stay away from places like Amazon. When students wheel and deal online to buy books, they take business out of the bookstore. That means the ideal buy-back cycle is broken and next quarter's students are cheated out of a textbook.
Also, if you buy your book on campus and you get the wrong book you can sell it back. You can't do that online.
If you get ripped off or you get the wrong edition (because you know how publishers love making useless new editions) then you eat that cost. The OC bookstore will not take it off your hands, but they will gladly sell you the right copy.
So don't complain to the bookstore about not having your books. Blame that friend of yours that brags about saving $10 on their books this quarter, or the person that still has their books from last year stacked up in the back of their closet.
The best solution is to plan out your college schedule on time. If we all finish our registration weeks ahead of the next quarter then we can count on just the right amount of books sitting on the shelf. And I can move on in my history class without having to use the buddy system to read every chapter.
I find it even more frustrating when, after sacrificing an arm and a leg and my first born just to get my books, my class as a whole is still held back because half of the class hasn't been able to buy their books.
Naturally, as most students do, I blame the bookstore. But it turns out I should be blaming myself - the student.
Charm Mello, assistant bookstore manager for Olympic College, said the bookstore spends a lot of time figuring out exactly how many books each class will need and the goal is to not have one book too many or be one book short.
When shortages or overages do occur, it's not because Mello can't count, but students can't make up their mind about what class to take.
When students add or drop a class or enroll late they screw up the count. To compound the problem, waitlist students sometimes buy books early before they even get into a class while the students that are in the class wait until the last second to find that the 30 books that were bought for the class are all gone.
As if the problem wasn't complex enough, sometimes when waitlists are long enough the college will add another section of a class, creating a greater demand for the same textbook even after it has already been sold out and reordered.
Denis Snyder, director of Auxiliary Services at OC, said the solution starts with the students. Always sell your books back to the college.
"It's a win - win - win situation," Snyder said because the student gets 50 - 75 percent of the cost of the book back, the bookstore has one more book on the shelf and the next student gets the used book cheaper than if it was new.
Another thing students can do is be loyal to their college bookstore and stay away from places like Amazon. When students wheel and deal online to buy books, they take business out of the bookstore. That means the ideal buy-back cycle is broken and next quarter's students are cheated out of a textbook.
Also, if you buy your book on campus and you get the wrong book you can sell it back. You can't do that online.
If you get ripped off or you get the wrong edition (because you know how publishers love making useless new editions) then you eat that cost. The OC bookstore will not take it off your hands, but they will gladly sell you the right copy.
So don't complain to the bookstore about not having your books. Blame that friend of yours that brags about saving $10 on their books this quarter, or the person that still has their books from last year stacked up in the back of their closet.
The best solution is to plan out your college schedule on time. If we all finish our registration weeks ahead of the next quarter then we can count on just the right amount of books sitting on the shelf. And I can move on in my history class without having to use the buddy system to read every chapter.
Be the first to comment on this story