College is expensive, even though Middle Georgia State College
has one of the lower tuition prices in the state, but one thing students fear are
books; how much their text books cost and what is the best way to get them.
Though there
are other options for acquiring text books, there are new features that
students may not be aware of in the college bookstore.
“One thing
students should keep in mind is that when they buy from their campus bookstore,
that money stays on campus and helps the school and therefore the students in
the future as well,” Dane Yoshida, the Course Materials Coordinator for the
bookstore said.
The
bookstore attempts to keep the price of their products down, but several
factors keep the prices up.
“We can’t
really help the prices from the publishers. That is an issue of supply and
demand,” Yoshida said. “Hardcover books and those with full color spreads and
multitudes of pictures have much higher prices.”
Part of
Yoshida’s job is to work with professors on making sure that all of the books
that are needed for each of the classes will be available in the bookstore.
Whenever a professor decides to
switch to a newer edition of a book or an older textbook is out of print, the
course materials have to change. The school has to be careful about how they
acquire their books, those that can not be returned cost the school more money.
“Every
semester we have more materials that are moving online.” The market is changing
with e-books and new textbooks that come with both physical and electronic
materials according to Yoshida. “The online shift isn’t for everyone. Many will
still prefer a textbook in front of them. That works better for their learning
process.”
With books like accounting and
nursing having new editions every year, this can be expensive to keep up with
according to Yoshida. The bookstore is adapting by selling more laptops and
tablets as well as e-book codes to keep up with these changes.
Students who are concerned about
the consolidation raising the price of text books should rest easy. Yoshida said
that the added campuses won’t cause a price jump, but students are still
concerned.
“I feel the cost of textbooks is
too high,” said Kimberly Folsom, a senior at MGS who says that she still
purchases her books from the campus bookstore, but thinks that they could be
cheaper. “I know I can get books online, but financial aid is a deciding factor
also.”
“Now that
we have the rental program students really seem to like it and take advantage
of that, being the cheapest option we have,” Yoshida said, noting that the campus
bookstore is still their best option. “Not every book is rentable, but it is
the best option as long as you bring the books back before the due date.”
For those
students who can not take advantage of the rental program, the bookstore now
offers book buy back year around now. Giving students options is important.
Yoshida says the best advice he can give is to compare before you buy.
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