Students seek good textbook deals online

By Raquel Haggard, News Writing Student

Students are fighting mad about high textbook costs

and are seeking alternatives to college bookstores.

Priscilla Phillips, geology major, said she thinks OCCC bookstore prices are “a rip off.”

“It’s highway robbery,” she said.

She isn’t alone in believing college bookstores are making big money on textbooks at the expense of students’ pocketbooks.

Brenda Reinke, OCCC Bookstore director, said that’s just not true, that only about 20 percent of the cost of a textbook goes to the bookstore.

“According to the National Association of College Stores, publishers get 64.3 percent, bookstores 22.4 percent, authors 11.6 percent, and shippers 1.7 percent for each dollar spent on a new textbook,” Reinke said. “The proportions have not changed over the years.

“The OCCC Bookstore margin on new textbooks is within the industry average,” she said. “After all expenses are paid, the percentage that the bookstore generates in revenue goes directly back to support the vision and mission of the college.”

Reinke said the college bookstore is a support service of the institution, so all store expenses are covered by the store income. Store expenses include salaries, benefits, freight and other expenses common to a retail business, she said.

Many students choose to look for deals online.

And, while the Internet does offer several alternatives to college bookstores, students have to be prepared to wait the necessary time for the books to arrive in the mail.

Nursing student April Etzler said she usually buys her books at www.half.com.

Biology major Vaneza Ceballos buys her books at www.amazon.com.

“One of my books was $98 used in our bookstore but at amazon.com I could get a new book for $55,” Ceballos said.

Kristina Godwin, nursing major, said she also searches the Web before buying her books.

“I like to use a search engine that pulls from several different sources, and then I pick the one with the best price for the book and shipping,” Godwin said. “The last place I ordered from was Biblio.com.”

Bigwords.com is one such search engine that will run a price comparison on textbooks.

Laura Newton, humanities major, likes to use websites such as www. craigslist.com, www.ebay. com and www.alibris.com.

“If you can get away with older versions [of textbooks], alibris is very helpful,” Newton said. “I got my ecology book for $2.”

Several students also suggest textbookbrokers. com. A search on Google turned up websites such as textbooks.com, barnesand noble.com, studentmarket. com, abebooks.com, ecam pus.com, bookbyte.com and many others.

Reinke said she believes there has been a decrease in textbook sales in the bookstore but feels the cost of textbooks is the problem, rather than the Internet.

“According to a 2006 U.S. Department of Education report, textbook prices rose an average of 6 percent a year from 1986 to 2004,” Reinke said.

“This was twice the rate of inflation and the same book costs more in the U.S. than in other countries.

“As an adjunct instructor and bookstore director, I see many students not purchasing books from any source because of the high price,” she said.

“In many instances, students will go to class and try to do without a textbook.”

Some textbooks can be found on reserve in the library, said Library Services Director Barbara King.

“The Library does not automatically place all textbooks on reserve,” King said. “The high number of textbooks, the cost and the continual changes would not allow us to do that.

“Textbooks are purchased for the Library at the request of faculty and student development.”

Available textbooks can be found on reserve at the circulation desk and can be checked out for two hours for in-library use only, King said.

A few textbooks can be found in the Communications Lab. Most pertain to the Communications area.

Rebecca Weber, Communications Lab assistant, said the lab has six or seven copies of books for classes such as Learning Skills, College Writing I and II, English Composition I and II, Study Skills and Success in Life.

Weber said students need to request a textbook loan program form from their instructor, complete the form with their instructor and then take it to Financial Aid to sign off.

Then that form can be taken to the Communications Lab where books can be checked out for 30 days. Books can be rechecked after that if no one is waiting for that title.

And, students might consider borrowing textbooks from a friend.

Sarah Peters, a Norman North High School student, who also is enrolled at OCCC, did just that when she borrowed a textbook from a friend who had taken the same class a year earlier.

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