Dear Robert J. Jones,

I am a freshman at the University. This is a supereminent school; I know it’s worth the price. But still, I was overwhelmed by the expensive cost of college education imposed on my parents and me. The prices of college textbooks are incredibly high in the U.S.

The College Board announced that the average annual cost of textbook and other materials for this year is as high as $1,168. In contrast, electronic formats are much cheaper. For example, one recommended reading textbook in our TAM department may cost around 70 percent higher in hardcover than in electronic format.

Not only do the college textbooks cost students a lot, but printed textbooks are heavy, which can seriously inconvenience students. Recalling the process of buying traditional textbooks in Illini Union Bookstore when term begins, we would hover back and forth frequently to try to find the exact location of our needs, wait in a long queue for a tedious amount of time and sometimes repeat the same process again due to the wrong purchase.

Yet, this is not the end. We also bear the weight of carrying heavy packs full of textbooks every day, with each one weighing a few pounds. Besides convenience, e-books would also be efficient enough to promote extracurricular reading of college students.

E-books’ convenience enables college students to log into the e-bookshops and make purchases in a second. Reading is a significant portion of the learning experience. The more we practice, the better we master the way of learning. The predictable benefit of e-books to University students means we should give it a try.

Zongnan Chen is a freshman in Engineering.

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