University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

Page 22 text:

18-BOOKSTORES A Fair Writing that check for books is one of the painful” first-of-tbe- semester rituals that almost all students go through. Deborah Gordon, a communications junior from Lexington, prepares to rip-off her check for $92.89.

Page 21 text:

BOOKSTORES-17 we ook ing. ally ou- in irk- rs are 7 stu- alue. lester ov. 1 r Connit I scienct tbe tveel )ook ight two ;e 23 ing a at all. ?ut he based n past ) theii oil page 1- se of : use ?xist, if the third pur- 7.50. lived, Buy- ; may abso-

Page 23 text:

students who try to resell the text 7 said Eblen. Another cause for low resale values on texts is the fact that many professors change their reading lists each semester. Of the 36 titles on the shelf at the Uni- versity Bookstore for various fall History 108 sec- tions, 20 were different from the previous semester. According to Eblen, 40 percent of the texts used in fall semester were not used the following spring. This not Exchange? only lowered the resale value of the books, but increased overhead costs of the store. Students think we choose the books we sell, but it's the teachers that choose to change the books each semester, explained Kennedy. We're not trying to get more titles ordered each time, we're just trying to serve the students. We have good, well-paid person- nel and are ready for each semester, so there aren't long lines. Some places seem to equate long lines with good sales, but we don't. We help the student get in and out as quickly as possible. But many students don't feel that they are being served. Jay Peter, Student Center Board cinema chairman, advocates an on-going student-run book exchange. As a volunteer in such programs during 1977-78 and 1978-79, he saw students save money as they bought and sold their texts for better prices than the book- stores could offer. With Buy for less and sell for more as their motto, these programs were fairly suc- cessful, although excessive bookwork was a major problem. Plans for a joint Student Center Board-Student Government program for fall fell through even though 20 people attended an initial planning session. The only real alternative to the current situation would be a referral service. We would have lists of books available for sale and names of the sellers would be available. But there is always the problem of diffi- culties in making contacts, explained Peter. He emphasized the need for a permanent exchange location, perhaps after the new Student Center addi- tion is built. But he added that he was not at all optim- istic about the chances for a good exchange until then. At least for spring, he expected a bulletin board for exchange requests to be the only option to reselling to the bookstores. 5 Students would be foolish not to trade off with friends first. But though the idea of a book exchange is great in philosophy, it just won't work, said Kennedy. He added that organization would be a problem and that students would have trouble get- ting the books they need. LuAnne Stewart’s expression reflects her disappointment at receiving $2.50 for a lab book which cost her $7.50. The other three books she wished to sell bad been discontinued. Jon Felde, a second-year law student, has been involved in a very successful exchange program on campus. Law students buy and sell many of their books through the Student Bar Association each semester. The 160 students sold over 200 books to each other in the fall, and over 350 as spring semester opened. Like the two bookstores, the SBA obtained the faculty lists of required texts for the upcoming semes- ter. They recommended to the seller a price between the bookstores' buying and selling prices on the used book. The seller actually set his own price and after the three-day exchange ended, obtained his cash and unsold books from SBA. Felde noted that the crucial factor in the success of the exchange was not the length of the exchange period, but the adequate publicity of the exact times when the buying and selling would take place. Here it works because professors use books over and over, and we all have common courses. So a text may be good for three orfour years, said Felde. It's a great way to save money. Peter wished that students within departments could organize exchanges. He added, If more students got motivated, we could have several good working exchanges and beat the bokstores' racket. We all know there're only two bookstores and full page ads in the Kerne! are a sham. It's our money that's paying for it, too. BOOKSTORES-19