Can’t Afford to Buy your Textbooks?

Starting a new school year is exciting, but it can be expensive. And in a poor economy, many students are feeling the crunch. “With college textbooks often costing more than $100 a piece, students spend an average of $700 to $1,100 a year, representing one of their biggest expenses after tuition and room and board.” (New York Times, 8/13/09)

If you can’t afford to buy your textbooks or required reading for classes, here are some possible alternatives :

* Check the Lane Library Catalog to find out if we already own the book and you can borrow it.

* Check the GIL Express Catalog to find out if other schools in the UGA system own it and you can request it. Keep in mind that it can take 3-5 business days for your book to arrive so you will need to plan ahead.

* Consider textbook rental. Nowadays, many publishers are willing to rent you a book for a fee that is 40-70% off the publisher's price. Chegg, Bookrenter, and Campusbookrentals are all online companies that rent textbooks. They all provide free return shipping when you are done with them and the option to purchase the book outright if you decide to keep it.

* Do you like to own your books? Like making notes in the margins or highlighting and don’t want to worry about returning them? Maybe you should look at some discounted or used book vendors. Some online sources for used books include Amazon, Alibris, and Abebooks.

(Lane Library does not endorse nor receive advertising money for any of these merchants.)