Is The Book Worth the Buy?

Photo by CHRISTINA MORGERA

Adrianna Alvarez
Opinions Editor

It’s the start of a new semester, and guess what that means? Time to buy books. However, before you go out and spend a bunch of money on overpriced textbooks, make sure that your purchases will be worth it. There is nothing more frustrating than buying a book that does nothing but collect dust. These are some helpful tricks I’ve acquired during my four years here at Post:

Wait to buy your books. I know a lot of students like to get their books ahead of time so that they can have them for the first day of class. However, waiting can help you determine if purchasing the text will truly benefit you or not. On the first day, as the Professor goes over the syllabus, they usually express the importance or unimportance of the book. Some Professors even hand out a homework schedule along with the syllabus. Skim through the schedule; see if there are homework assignments that are going to require the textbook. There is no point in buying something that you are simply not going to use.

Search online for texts that you may need. Many websites now offer full texts for free. I once took an English class that required me to read the book Frankenstein. Instead of purchasing the book, I did a Google search and found the full text online, for free. If this is a route you may take, there are some things you need to look out for. Make sure that you found the right text; check the author, edition, ISBN (this is an identification number for a book), publishing and copyright. Also, when I suggest looking for a text online, I am not talking about Wikipedia or Sparknotes. As a college student, I would stay far away from these sites, they’ll only get you into trouble.

Used books can save you lots of money. When you find yourself in the campus bookstore with the option of purchasing a new or used book, always go for used. I have experienced cases where my used book is half the price of the new book. Who cares if there’s a little highlighting, or the covers a bit beat up. New or used, it reads the same.

Renting textbooks is another money-saving avenue to go down. This is much less expensive than buying the book. If you decide to rent, keep a few things in mind: There is a rental return date. If you do not return the book by that date, you will be charged. If your credit card was used to purchase the rentals, then the credit card on file will be used to automatically take the money out of your account. Also, you are responsible for the text if lost, stolen, or ruined. To get more information about renting, you can contact our campus bookstore or check online at www.liunet.bncollege.com

Purchasing books online seems to be one of the most popular ways to get your books for class. There are many websites that sell, rent and trade textbooks for cheap. Before buying the book full price at the bookstore, it wouldn’t hurt to check out sites like Amazon, chegg.com, half.com, bookbyte.com, or ecampus.com for better prices.

Etextbooks are a digital form of an actual book. This can be bought or rented, and it downloads onto your computer. You can even highlight and take notes. This is great for people who are on campus all day, taking multiple classes and don’t want to carry big have books around for hours.

Today, students have many different options that should be looked at before having to buy a text at full price. Classes are expensive enough and having to spend an extra $500-$800 on textbooks should be avoided at all costs. Take the time to shop around and compare prices. Make your book worth the buy.