The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 20, 1975 Page: 4 of 16
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THE MEGAPHONE Thursday, November 20, 1975
4
Textbook Prices Continue to
Climb,to Dismay of Students
by Cynthia Crossen
(CPS) — Standing in the
aisles of college bookstores
across the country are hun-
dreds of students groaning
and sighing as they peek
cautiously at the price on the
inside cover of the assigned
textbook. Their heads swim
as they silently tally up the
bill for this semester's re-
quired books.
Next semester will be
worse if book prices continue
to rise as they have steadily
for the past 10 years. Prices
for publishing materials
have fallen victim to infla-
tion and the financially-
troubled textbook industry is
passing those increases on to
its captive audience —
students.
The textbook i$ still the
primary teaching tool in the
majority of under-graduate
classes. And college students
at most school stores pay ex-
actly what the publishers
have suggested. Trying to
undercut the competing
bookstores in the area would
result in a serious loss to the
bookstore since the profit
margin on textbooks is so
low, according to the
manager of a University of
Minnesota bookstore.
"We make far less than
one percent profit after all
our expenses are taken out/'
claimed Jim Simons,
manager of the bookstore at
Oregon College of Education.
Simons also said that many
bookstores are not getting
enough to cover the cost of
the books, shipping and
handling. To cover the costs,
some college bookstores are
charging students for the
freight cost as well as the ac-
tual cost of the textbooks.
According to Simons, text-
book prices have not risen as
drastically this year as they
have in the past few years.
"However, hard-cover $7.95
and $8.95 books might be a
thing of the past," he said.
Actually, textbook prices
rose 3% more than the con-
sumer index in 1974.
Publishers blamed the rising
prices on increasing costs of
paper, ink, binding material,
labor, loans and distribution.
Today the average price of a
hard-cover book is about
$13.25, a college librarian es-
timated.
Publishers are also spen-
ding more money producing
textbooks because they are
trying to recruit more big-
name professors to write the
newest texts. Then it takes
the busy professor four to six
years to produce it. By the
time the student is buying the
book, it is already dated and
a new edition is in the works.
At most bookstores, an out-
dated edition is worth
nothing. Books which have
been used for one quarter or
semester and have not been
reordered by another
professor for the next are
worth almost nothing. The
manager of the University
bookstore at Stephen Austin
University in Texas pointed
out that a book which retail-
ed for $9.75 would be worth 25
cents to the wholesaler if the
book were no longer needed
for a class at that school.
If a book is going to be used
again for the next semester,
students may be able to buy
the textbook used, usually at
75% of its original price. But
with the heavier use of
paperback texts, used books
are becoming more scarce.
Some book dealers believe
paperbacks are the student's
worst buy.
"There's very little price
difference between paper-
back and hardback books in
certain instances," one said.
"Hardback books are also
more durable than paper-
back books and attain a
higher resale value."
Not all bookstores seem to
be struggling with low prices
and high costs, however. The
"non-profit" bookstore at
Western Washington State
College has accumulated a
surplus of $297,000 in the past
few years. The bookstore
gives discounts on many
items but continues to show a
profit. Many bookstores
make their biggest profits on
non-book items such as
pocket calculators, clothing
and supplies.
At St. Louis University,
two students have set up an
alternative to the used book
business on campus. The
women have been organizing
a book coop which will accept
used books from students
and sell them for the amount
the owner is asking. The
owner will receive all the
money collected for the sale
of the books and will get the
books back if they are not
sold.
there's nothing
PERSONAL IN THIS...
CoLBY AND SCHIESINGER
HAP To (}o fbR THE
MKE oF THE CAMPAIGN...
(SAME WITH RoCKY..
... ToR Purely
political reasons i
Musi also ask for
Your resignation..
..Aw... RoW PONT
CRY, PETTY/
%
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The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 20, 1975, newspaper, November 20, 1975; Georgetown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634032/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.