As an English major and avid book enthusiast, I can honestly say that I have indeed read my fair share of books. I agree with those who believe that reading a lot is one of the best ways to learn about just about anything. I have been buying myself books from Barnes & Noble for a while now, and over the years, the cost of them might have added up to an ungodly number that would make me sick to see. But if you ask me, the number would be worth all of the enjoyment and knowledge I was able to take away from it. When entering college, due to having an older sister who attended before me, I knew that books at college were said to be expensive. While buying my first round books first semester freshman year, I was definitely shocked by the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars I spent on them, I gave the school the benefit of the doubt. I told myself that it would totally be worth all the time we would spend on reading them and learning from them. Now currently going into my junior year, I am very sad to report that this extreme cost that has been steadily increasing each semester was not worth all of the money that students have to pay for them.
The first issue with buying these books is the cost itself. Even if you rent a used textbook (which is the lowest amount you can pay for it), your bill still adds up to being hundreds of dollars, and you’re not even guaranteed to be getting a book in great condition. You are allowed to write and highlight in these rented books, which is a curse and a blessing. When you are the first one writing in it, or even the second, it seems wonderful that you are able to do this. By the time you get to the fourth or fifth writer, there is hardly space left and the highlights and writing all seem to blend together, making reading and understanding the book more difficult. You pay all of this money, and then there is still a chance that you wont be able to get anything out of the book. The costs of these books when sold from a bookstore at school are outrageous for the quality book you are getting. If you want a new book to rent that costs more money, and god forbid you want to keep the book and buy it — that is going to cost an arm and a leg.
If you are lucky enough to get a book that you can understand, the chances of you reading that entire book are slim. Throughout my last four semesters while taking a variety of classes, I would say that I was assigned around 40 books. I would then say that I was assigned the entirety of maybe six to eight of those books. Less than one-fourth of the books I spent all that money one were actually read all the way through. Whether we just read a couple poems, a few chapters, or maybe did about 14 of the 35 lessons in the textbook, we absolutely did not use the whole book; yet we still paid for the whole book. (Not to mention when you buy books in advance like the professors like you to but then you get to class and they tell you that they aren’t going to use some of them, but you need to add on others not on their list. Annoying).
As a student who normally pays for her own books at school, I can say that they do not fit into a college student’s budget. I am very fortunate that my parents are able and willing to help me pay for my tuition to a great school, but some students pay their own way through school. This is a very admirable thing, and the system should not be discouraging them or anyone else who is paying for their own or someone else’s education by telling them that the grand lump sum they are already paying to come and get their education is not enough to cover material that the school is going to require they have to learn anything. Without these texts, the student would struggle immensely in any class at any school, and quite frankly, if these required readings are going to be so directly related to a students education, they should included in the fee that students pay to come and receive an education from that school.
Over the years students will learn that there are ways around the system, such as using Amazon to search for cheaper prices of the same book or buying/borrowing the book from someone else who has already taken the class. Though this seems like an easy way out, it’s not such a quick fix. Most professors require specific versions of the specific texts that can be hard to find online. That, along with that fact that teachers are changing their readings often depending on the class, it can be hard to borrow from prior years.
All in all, the fact that we have to pay absurd amounts of money for books (on top of everything else we have to pay for to attend college and get the higher education that is pretty much required for our future these days) completely sucks. I do not have a solution to this problem because I am aware that it takes money to makes books so you have to sell them for money as well. But, on the other side, does it really cost that much money to make a book? If you are out there and you agree with me and you have any say at all somewhere that can change this, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE COLLEGE STUDENTS PLEASE SPEAK UP. (Feel free to speak up even if you don’t agree with me because it’s the right thing to do!)
