Since getting the book exchange measure on the ASUO elections ballot, Avital and I, along with the Campus Improvement Movement, have been getting a few questions around campus about how this book exchange is actually going to work. Will it really save students money? Is it different from an online exchange? Does it involve money? Considering the promises other campaigns have made about “lobbying” for lower textbook prices and lower tuition, it’s definitely understandable that students would be weary – after all, since when has an executive candidate actually done anything about textbooks?
Avital and I came up with the book exchange idea not because it sounds good, but because it works. Despite what the University of Oregon bookstore and other critics of the exchange say, two Oregon colleges – Lane Community College and Oregon State University – have successful book exchanges on campus that save students hundreds of dollars each year. Avital and I believe that our school deserves the same competition. Like many students, I’m thousands of dollars in education loan debt, and can’t always afford high-priced textbooks each term. If we want to help Oregon students save money, we need to find innovative solutions, and so far, the textbook exchange is the only proven, tangible solution to this problem.
So here’s how it works. Once the ballot measure passes, the ASUO will first explore the creation of a book exchange by setting up a business model. Ideally, the ASUO will try to find a space on campus that is accessible to all students, such as the EMU, and will then make arrangements to set up the exchange’s physical layout. But before all of this, the ASUO will need to look at other models around the state. We would try to create an exchange that uses the best qualities of both the LCC and Oregon State exchange, which would allow students to buy books at a low price and sell at a high price – that’s essentially what they do at LCC. In order to pay for staff members, the exchange would take off a very slim, and adjustable, profit for each book sold. This will allow a full-time, yet manageable, student staff to run the exchange on a regular basis at the beginning and end of each term (just like at LCC). Once the exchange becomes popular, more and more students will be able to take care of their used book needs on campus, and it will actually be able to buy and sell used books for reasonable, competitive prices. All in all, it’s a cost-neutral, win-win situation.
Jonathan Rosenberg is running for ASUO executive