Book rush leaves students with empty pockets
Students purchase books at T.I.S. Bookstore in Champaign on Tuesday. “We are having a good book rush, although there is still a long way to go,” said Store Manager John Tichenor. Erica Magda
January 22, 2009
The beginning of each new semester brings new classes, new faces and the inevitable purchasing of new textbooks.
T.I.S. was filled to capacity with students buying and selling books when classes began on Tuesday, and the Illini Union Bookstore has been busy as well, according to employee Janese Nolan, sophomore in LAS.
“This one gets the most business. It’s the closest to the most stuff and most of the freshmen don’t know they can go anywhere else,” she said.
Morenikeji Orekoya, freshman in AHS, shopped for her books at Illini Union Bookstore.
“This seems like this is the most popular bookstore,” she said. “I always come here first.”
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Nolan said that the cost of textbooks depends largely on the student’s major.
“I’m in Community Health and I don’t have as many books as other people,” Orekoya said.
Orekoya estimated that she usually spends between $300 and $400 on books each semester.
Students in math and science are worse off, according to Follett’s Bookstore employee Alex Cegielski, sophomore in AHS.
“Math and chemistry majors seem to have really expensive books. MCB [molecular and cellular biology] has some expensive ones too,” Cegielski said.
Nolan said she agreed that the science textbooks were far more expensive than other books.
“Science books are more expensive than any other books, but English majors have to buy more stuff,” she said.
Wei Zheng, junior in Engineering, said that textbooks for his major tend to be very expensive. He said that he doesn’t usually end up needing all of his books, but he buys all of them in case he needs them.
“I thought it was important to buy all the books but I never know which ones I’ll use,” Zheng said.
Even with the current economic situation, Cegielski said he doesn’t believe the book-buying business has decreased.
“The books are required, so even if the economy is bad people still have to buy their books.”
The cost of books can cause some financial struggle for students, but some have found ways to decrease those costs.
“I plan to share one book with my roommate,” Orekoya said.
Students can also choose to take advantage of checking out reserved textbooks from different libraries if their teachers put the materials on reserve.
