Art by Sacha Irick
In a welcome move, SGA has continued to put our Student Activities fees to work to save us money. From last semester, we know off-campus meal points and their accompanying discounts will be implemented soon. And with a new SGA resolution, select GE textbooks will be available on reserve in the library starting next semester.
This resolution from SGA is much appreciated. We all know how expensive textbooks can be, and with GEs being such an extensive part of Pepperdine’s curriculum, the cost of buying books can add up quickly. The benefits of this program will undoubtedly transfer to almost every student.
There will be five copies of every book for the political science, economics, sociology, psychology and humanities GE classes available in Payson. The 55 books cost $5,398.48, which comes out to less than $2 from each student’s individual activity fees.
Although SGA does not intend for these reserves to cover the textbook needs of all Pepperdine students, the reserves can still be of great value to the student body as a whole.
Having these books available at the library will assure that students who order their books online won’t fall behind in classes as they wait for delivery. Instead of paying the high bookstore prices, students would be able to visit the library and use its new reserves until their own, cheaper books arrive.
Additionally, having these books at the library would allow students to work on class readings and assignments while on main campus without having to haul several heavy books to each study session.
Some students may even be able to get away with only using these books and not having to buy their own. While this would tether students to the library, it could present considerable cost savings for students.
Although it is feasible that a student could make it through a class only using the books on reserve at the library, this possibility also presents a potential problem with the resolution. It will take experimentation and careful study to see if the 55 books will be enough to satisfy the student demand.
It is quite likely that these books will be popular, so students should not depend on them for last-minute studying or for trying to complete assignments right before class. With several hundred students taking these GEs each semester, it is very possible that these books will consistently be in use during peak studying periods. If you plan to use the books, do not procrastinate — rely on these books at your own risk.
These textbooks will very likely become some of the most popular books at the library, so it will be important for this program to be able to change over time. It may make sense to add more of the same books or books for additional classes to the system. Additionally, available ebook versions of these textbooks could potentially be made available over the library website, or the textbooks could be loaded onto the iPads that are available to rent from the library.
Adding books to the program seems like a good possibility. Each extra book purchased by SGA would take mere cents from Student Activity fees, while providing potential benefit for everyone.
Another complication to the program is that textbooks quickly go through multiple editions. As these textbooks change editions, however, the original books will most likely still be of value to students. Many edition changes mostly move pictures or charts so that the page numbers become different. If these reserve books are meant primarily as a resource and not as a complete substitute for individually owned textbooks, these older editions will still have most if not all of the information students need. In order to save money for maintaining this program and perhaps to conserve in order to expand the program to greater numbers of books, SGA could consider buying new books every other new addition.
Students could also donate their used books to the library to expand the collection. The value of textbooks depreciates significantly after use, so donations could be an inexpensive way to help out future students.
This program has the potential to grow and become even more helpful to students as more books are added to the system. It is an excellent idea from SGA and could certainly evolve into a very convenient tool for students while also helping them save money.
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