He hopes checkout program catches on

Randy Herron's frustration led him on a mission, one he hopes will make things easier for some of his fellow students.

Herron, a junior at Oregon State University, began his "mini-crusade" to find a solution to the high price of textbooks while taking classes at Linn-Benton Community College last spring.

"Some classes require a new textbook every quarter," Herron said. "New books can cost over $200."

The problem, he says, is there is little or no new information in the updates. But by issuing them, publishers have made it impossible for students to sell back old editions.

Once a new edition comes out, publishers buy back all unused old editions and bookstores stop buying back used copies.

Herron decided to fight the problem. He collected about 40 used books from students in Speech 111 classes and offered them free to students taking the class the next term. The LBCC library helped out, putting bar codes on the books and making them available to check out for the term.

"I was hoping to get a club going because doing it alone is hard," Herron said. "It would be nice to have a representative in each class to collect the books."

He's hoping the project will take hold as well at OSU, where he studies chemistry. Getting the word out and finding a common place for students to drop off used books are immediate goals.

Herron said he doesn't blame instructors or bookstores for the problem.

"It's the book publishers," he said. "Instructors and bookstores could help by picking good, inexpensive textbooks."

He said publishers sell international editions of the same textbooks for a third of what they charge in this country.

And Herron admits that part of the problem rests with the consumer.

"I was not nearly as enthusiastic about this when my parents were paying for the books," he said.

Online versions of most books are available at about half-price, but views and printouts are limited, Herron says.

He realizes certain fields of study require regular textbook updates but felt repackaging a 900-page book to include a minimal amount of new information could be accomplished in better ways.

Some ways instructors can help, he said, include making books available online, accepting used books in class and creating a syllabus for students who use them.

"It's different at every school," Herron said. "My approach is small-scale. Ultimately my goal is to never have to update to a new edition. It could save students thousands of dollars."