College stores in the University of California system will
support a recently launched campaign to lower the costs of
textbooks for students.
The campaign, led by the California Public Interest Research
Group, aims to change practices of publishing companies that
produce new editions of textbooks with minor revisions, resulting
in a significant increase in textbook prices for students.
The UCLA Store will help CalPIRG in researching information on
textbook prices and the changing of editions to be used in their
survey, said Keith Schoen, store retail director for the Associated
Students of UCLA, an organization that runs various stores and food
facilities on campus.
The store, however, is also wary of being seen as teaming up
with CalPIRG against textbook publishing companies.
“We still need to maintain a good relationship with our
domestic publishers and make sure that they will still ship the
books that students need to us “¦ especially since some
textbooks are published by only one company,” Schoen
said.
Though many students might think an increase in textbook prices
means more profit for the bookstore, it is publishers who set
textbook prices.
Textbook companies receive a higher share of the profit than the
stores that sell them, according to data compiled by the National
Association of College Stores, which works to provide resources in
higher education for college stores across the country.
Citing statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, NACS
pointed out that the cost of producing textbooks has increased by
5.4 percent since 1998 while the prices that publishers set have
risen by as much as 35.1 percent.
“Students should know that textbook pricing and selection
is beyond the store’s control,” said Jolene Mitchell,
CalPIRG UCLA chapter chair.
Mitchell, who is spearheading the campaign, said the group is
working to change textbook company practices and is not
“targeting the bookstore at all.”
With publishing companies constantly introducing new editions
for textbooks, stores are often unable to provide as many used
textbooks for students or buy back previous editions of books from
students at the end of the quarter.
Some students say they are aware stores are not responsible for
the high prices of textbooks.
First-year economics student Avani Desai said she compared
textbook prices at the UCLA Store with other bookstores, and found
them to be the same.
“Obviously the store’s not trying to cheat us. …
It can’t sell (for) less than what it buys,” she
said.
The textbook selection process takes place between the
publishing company and the professor; they work together to find
textbooks for a particular class. The store is then responsible for
ordering the books requested by the professors.
Schoen added the store will also help CalPIRG in working with
faculty to find ways to reduce the cost of textbooks for
students.
Alternatives, such as ordering course readers through Academic
Publishing Services, allow professors to select only necessary
passages from different authors instead of requiring students to
buy several textbooks for one course.
The dispute regarding overpriced textbooks may have stemmed from
a long-term practice of publishing companies to price their
textbooks differently overseas.
An article appeared in the New York Times on Oct. 21 describing
how students are able to buy their textbooks for a lower price by
ordering through the British version of Amazon.com, a Web site that
sells products ranging from textbooks to apparel.
U.S. publishing companies argue their overseas pricing policies
depend on the state of local economies and that lower pricing makes
textbooks affordable for underdeveloped countries.
However, textbooks are still cheaper in developed countries such
as Great Britain, giving rise to many heated debates about the
practicality of the policy.
The Association of American Publishers responded to the New York
Times article by blaming the rising costs of textbooks on price
mark-ups by bookstores.
The allegation backfired when NACS used data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics that showed a discrepancy between the marginal
rise of textbook production cost and a high increase in the prices
that publishers charge stores for the books.