Proposal (revised)

This would be addressed to the student senate, or the whole student body.


Attending Bristol Community College , you are aware of the various costs students are burdened with. We all have to pay tuition and college fees, maintain health insurance, and purchase books for each class. These expenses can add up pretty quickly and become overwhelming for some of us.

When receiving credits after completing courses, we suddenly become okay with the money we have spent. Then we sell our used books back to the campus bookstore for about 20 percent of their original cost. The bookstore turns around and sells our used textbooks to another student for a significant amount more than what they gave us. This is how our economy works, but it is unfair.

According to MassPIRG, a Government Accountability Office report last year found that, making up over 25% of college expenses, textbook prices have risen at twice the rate of inflation for the past 20 years. In The Daily Collegian, Phil Olsen, director of the Textbook Annex at UMASS, was quoted saying, “Each year students spend close to $6 (million) on books and receive about $1.2 (million) in return.” Students at UMASS are only receiving one-fifth of their initial textbook investment back. We deserve better. We need to stick together and stop this profiteering glutton we call our campus bookstore from profiting from our used books. (Pardi)

Students at our school need to be given the opportunity to sell their books directly to other students. We need to stop giving the campus bookstore a chance to make money from our used books. One may ask how this could be made possible. My answer is simple: Very easily.
I propose the start of a textbook exchange week in G Building a couple weeks prior to the start of each semester. This would allow students to sell used books directly to others without the mark-up of the bookstore.

The textbook exchange week would play out with one day for science and health career textbooks, one day for mathematics books, one day for business and English books, a day for history and the arts (also other electives), and Friday being a day for everything that has not yet been sold. There would be a table set up for every course with a sign to indicate the course’s title. This would ensure that students find what they are looking for.

Any student eager to see the benefits of this plan can volunteer to help set up this event. About twenty minutes would be all that is required to set up tables and tape signs to the front of them. This could be achieved with 2-5 students working together. I will have no problem being one of them because I know an event such as this will benefit many students and is well worth the minute effort.

The selling student would set the price they will let their book go for. Due to a large number of students wanting to sell and purchase the same book, prices would remain relatively similar. To allow each party to make out with a great deal, the set prices would be somewhere between the amount the campus bookstore sells the used text for and what it will purchase the book for. This is possible this because we would cut out the extremely high mark-up of the campus bookstore, allowing the seller to make more money and the buyer to pay less simultaneously.
This is a great plan because it requires very little organization and zero funding. The cafeteria in G Building is large enough to host this event. Our school could provide the tables needed. This could be completely student run; no staff would need to aid us or even be present.

Unfortunately this plan would benefit some students more than others. Due to the fact that every transaction would be on a cash basis, any student relying on a book advance from financial aid could not participate in the buying part of this event. They could still put their used books up for sale and possibly receive more than the campus bookstore would offer them. Also, after a few years of being in effect, there would be a great reduction in used books available through the bookstore because every student would want to sell their books to the highest paying customer, another student.

The whole student body would benefit from an event like this prior to each semester. Each student would receive more for their old books and pay less for their courses? required texts. There is no need for the campus bookstore to profit off our used textbooks. A student selling directly to another student would allow direct transfer of cash, with a student receiving the whole amount of the purchase price for their used text. Not one student could argue that this plan is not best for all.


Works Cited

"Beacon Hill to Lower Textbook Costs / unknown." MASSPIRG. 2008. Massachusetts Student Public Interest Research Group. 9 Nov. 2008 http://www.masspirgstudents.org/masspirg-in-the-news/masspirg-in-the-news/beacon-hill-to-lower-textbook-costs.

Pardi, Lauren / Collegian Correspondent, . "SGA tries to solve textbook costs problem." The Daily Collegian. 14 May 2007.College Publisher.9 Nov. 2008 .


Post Write

I really don’t know what is working for me here. The only things I have going for me is I believe what I am proposing is the best solution for the problem. I am glad I found an article that relates to, not only the price of textbooks, but the difference in the original prices and what bookstores are willing to purchase books back for. I like my plan being as detailed as it is.
I am still a little unsure of the revision that took out the part of splitting the difference in the bookstore’s prices to set the new price of books. I think that allowing students to haggle would cause some drama at the event. I did make the change for the simple fact that, though its employees are student, this plan cannot rely on the bookstore, which will be losing business, for cooperation.
Do you think letting the students set their prices will make things run more smoothly or bring some chaos?
Would you participate in this event if proposal was accepted?