It has become a cycle for some. It’s the end of the semester and the student loan has been stretched to the minimum. You’re broke.
Your only saving grace is your textbooks so you rush to the bookstore ready to line your pockets with some fat cash. As you hand the attendant your books, you imagine all of the things you will do with the loads of money you’ll be getting. Then it comes.
“I’m sorry,” says the attendant. “We’re not buying these back.”
It’s an all too familiar scenario. Not only will you not get any money, you will also be stuck with books you’ll probably never touch again.
The trend happens for several reasons.
“As a rule of thumb, publishers have told me they upgrade every three years,” said Anita Farmer, text manager at the University Store at The University of Memphis. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until I started working here.”
When publishing books on dynamic subjects, such as law or nursing, it’s necessary to update texts as new information is acquired. When updating books on subjects like English or math, however, the reasons for these changes become more questionable.
“Since the publishers are the ones that control the market, I’m sure they could go in and change a few chapters and call it the next edition,” said professor Julia Heath, chair of the Economics Department.
When comparing the eighth and ninth editions of Mathematical Ideas, one may find that both additions are very much alike. However, the preface of the ninth edition states that approximately 25 percent of the exercises are new or revised.
After updating to a new edition, publishers may then stop production of the old one, making it almost impossible for an instructor to use an old edition because it is out of print.
“I don’t like to change (textbooks) a lot until the stupid vendor comes out with a new edition, which they do all too often,” said Dr. Charles Long, professor of psychology. “If I didn’t want to change an edition, it wouldn’t matter. I just wouldn’t be able to get the book.”
Farmer said occasionally the University Store is able to acquire a limited number of out-of-print textbooks.
However, if students fail to return the old editions, the instructor is again forced to use the new edition.
According to Farmer, both students and instructors are at the mercy of publishers.
“The problem is not with the instructor,” Long said. “It is with the vendor. It’s definitely a for-profit operation.”
Farmer said another reason books can’t be bought back is because of a lack of communication.
According to Farmer, only 50 percent of University of Memphis instructors have contacted the University Store concerning what editions they’ll be using for the fall semester.
“That’s 50 percent of the books that can’t be bought back,” Farmer said.
“I don’t know what (books) the departments are using. I can’t buy back 500 books and hope the instructors decide to use them.”
Last semester, 297 textbooks were upgraded to new editions.
Considering the average class size at The U of M is approximately 28 students, at least 8,300 students were forced to buy a new edition, meaning the same number of students were unable to sell their books back.
“Students get disadvantaged twice, because they have to pay for a new book and are unable to sell the old one back,” Heath said.
