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State bills attempt to curb rising textbook prices
Issue date: 2/7/08
"With the ISBN on hand, you know you will get the correct book," she said.
Requiring bookstores to post ISBNs immediately, however, can be a cause for confusion. Often, a bundle will contain multiple ISBNs, one for each individual component of the bundle. Sometimes, booksellers will not know the final ISBN until they have the book in stock.
"When faculty submit raw adoption forms, bookstores have to be allowed to research the textbooks for availability and accuracy of the editions," Hershman said.
"ISBNs are increasingly no longer good identifiers for college textbooks," he told the Maryland General Assembly. "If institutions publish or provide ISBN information prematurely, it can cause students to purchase the wrong books, or to purchase more expensive versions of books that might otherwise be available unbundled or used at a lower cost."
The NACS does not support the Maryland legislation in its present form.
"Bookstores don't want to be in a position where they misinform students," Hershman said.
Rebecca LaFleur, manager of the Hopkins Barnes and Noble, explained that currently, bookstores do not advise to faculty when purchasing books.
"We supply the books the faculty ask for," she said. "If there is an availability issue we will inform the faculty and may make a recommendation for a more available book. We do everything we can to stock the books the faculty ask for."
The NACS and LaFleur agree there are methods, other than the one described in the bill, for campus bookstores to lower the price of textbooks.
"Some cheap alternatives are digital format textbooks, which cost a fraction of physical textbooks," LaFleur said. "With digital books, you only pay for the intellectual property, not the physical binding."
Exempting textbooks from sales tax is a method favored by the NACS. All the states surrounding Maryland have made college textbooks exempt.
"The NACS would also like to see a stronger used book market, and universities forming textbook advisory committees," said Charles Schmidt, director of public relations for NACS. "It helps to have everyone on the same page, and make them understand there are lower cost options. Faculty need to understand that they don't have to change editions every year."
Requiring bookstores to post ISBNs immediately, however, can be a cause for confusion. Often, a bundle will contain multiple ISBNs, one for each individual component of the bundle. Sometimes, booksellers will not know the final ISBN until they have the book in stock.
"When faculty submit raw adoption forms, bookstores have to be allowed to research the textbooks for availability and accuracy of the editions," Hershman said.
"ISBNs are increasingly no longer good identifiers for college textbooks," he told the Maryland General Assembly. "If institutions publish or provide ISBN information prematurely, it can cause students to purchase the wrong books, or to purchase more expensive versions of books that might otherwise be available unbundled or used at a lower cost."
The NACS does not support the Maryland legislation in its present form.
"Bookstores don't want to be in a position where they misinform students," Hershman said.
Rebecca LaFleur, manager of the Hopkins Barnes and Noble, explained that currently, bookstores do not advise to faculty when purchasing books.
"We supply the books the faculty ask for," she said. "If there is an availability issue we will inform the faculty and may make a recommendation for a more available book. We do everything we can to stock the books the faculty ask for."
The NACS and LaFleur agree there are methods, other than the one described in the bill, for campus bookstores to lower the price of textbooks.
"Some cheap alternatives are digital format textbooks, which cost a fraction of physical textbooks," LaFleur said. "With digital books, you only pay for the intellectual property, not the physical binding."
Exempting textbooks from sales tax is a method favored by the NACS. All the states surrounding Maryland have made college textbooks exempt.
"The NACS would also like to see a stronger used book market, and universities forming textbook advisory committees," said Charles Schmidt, director of public relations for NACS. "It helps to have everyone on the same page, and make them understand there are lower cost options. Faculty need to understand that they don't have to change editions every year."
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Vegetarian
posted 2/09/08 @ 10:19 PM EST
The cost of textbooks has become a huge burden on students due to the greed of the publishers. Exempting it from sales tax is a good start. I hope they take the time to design a comprhensive bill that will help this situation. (Continued…)
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