Profs Take Price and Size into Account When Choosing Books

The rising cost of textbooks is not a concern lost on the professors responsible for choosing what books students at Hudson Valley will use, according to English professor Ann Dearing.

Dearing, who helps choose books for three English classes at HVCC said cost, content and size are all factors professors consider. “Price is a definite consideration,” she said.

Wholesale textbook prices have risen 40 percent over the last four years, according to the National Association of College Bookstores. This increase has left students with a great financial burden. Many books cost over $100 each, and even with stipends as part of a financial aid package, students are often left footing the bill with bookstore receipts reading over $500 per semester.

Some blame may be placed on publishers for raising textbook prices by coming out with new editions more frequently than is necessary, according to a 2005 study conduced by the Government Accountability Office. HVCC professors are aware of this issue, and consider the frequency of new editions when ordering books, Dearing said.

While some classes, like Media and Culture, use books that are updated each semester, this is not the norm. Many books come out every three years and to avoid price hikes and keep more used books in circulation, professors will often choose these, Dearing said.

The textbooks used in some fields, such as languages and science, often come with additional study materials, such as workbooks and CD-ROMs that may or may not be used by professors. Public interest and student advocacy groups have long claimed that these supplements are the root of rising prices. But when one compares the list price for the textbook used in General Biology at HVCC with and without the supplements, there is only a six-dollar difference. This comparison holds among books used for other common classes.

Representatives from book companies, notorious for their aggressive selling tactics, play a role in the process as well. Beyond providing schools with textbook samples and customer service, representatives obtain information on what textbooks schools are using and when their contracts with those companies will run out, Dearing said. “Then they start coming around and trying to sell us their wares,” she said.

After academic departments choose what books to order, they fill out the appropriate forms and deliver them to the campus bookstore. The bookstore, run by the Faculty Student Association, orders books from publishers based on class offerings and enrollment and, as the new semester nears, begins to stock their shelves.

The Viking’s Cove bookstore offers both used and new books, as well as pre-packs designed to save students money. However, it often pays to shop around. Mary Jane Books in Albany stocks all HVCC required and option texts. Online textbook stores also present an opportunity for savings. “I had a student who said to me the other day that they found one of the grammar books that I use on Amazon for half the cost,” Dearing said.

Some students put off buying books until after classes start or do not buy them at all. This may be for a variety of reasons, including classes where the textbook is rarely used, professors who tailor their class to allow for use of old editions, or, quite simply, the prohibitively high price.

Dearing believes some books are worth buying despite the price, and for reasons that extend beyond their use in the classroom. “I tell students I think it is, particularly in English, important to own the books,” she said. Dearing said students will be held accountable for their writing forever. Of the books used in her Composition and College Grammar classes, she said, “That’s the kind of book that one would keep on one’s shelf when they even go beyond their academic career.”