A requirement-heavy Core Curriculum means many things, but for the average student on a budget, it mostly means a big headache over where and how to acquire all the readings. Weighing the many options for book-buying in advance can save students lots of time and money during the first week back, when both are in high demand.
The Columbia University Bookstore—also known as the Barnes & Noble in the basement of Lerner Hall—allows students to purchase used and new books. Students may sell these back at the end of the semester for a fraction of the original price—like $0.50 for some used Lit Hum books.
This year, some books may have a “rent” sticker on their covers, allowing students to save up to half the cost and return the books after classes end. Unlike other local options, the CU Bookstore’s selection is a cookie-cutter survey of course reading materials, which is to be expected of an official campus bookstore. Yet while the cement storeroom where students find course books may be lacking in charm, it holds a thorough supply of texts at reasonable prices—enough to win over the deal-hunting student.
Book Culture—an independent store brimming with intellectual reading materials—has locations on 112th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam and on Broadway at 114th Street. Course books can be found at the original location on 112th. This Morningside Heights literary staple pays homage to its academic neighbor to the north, offering rare and out-of-print books, foreign-language titles, and other arts and humanities works. It also works directly with many professors to supply books for their classes.
While Book Culture does provide bargain titles—and owner Chris Doeblin said it prices texts below Barnes & Noble costs—there are far fewer money-saving options here than there are in the CU Bookstore, with its large selection of used texts and box sets. But if students are captivated by the allure of the indie store and the idea of wandering past shelves piled with everything from French comic books to art deco encyclopedias, the added cost may be worth it.
Of course, students can also buy required texts without leaving their dorm rooms. Half.com—an online marketplace reminiscent of its parent company eBay, only with millions of used and new books—offers drastically reduced prices, often more than half off. Search engines such as campusbooks.com and bigwords.com do all the work for you by scanning the Internet for the best prices. Although these websites boast comprehensive and cheap book selections, students should make sure they know the seller’s reputation and compare prices before buying.
Renting textbooks online is another smart option, especially for titles that aren’t available for rent in local stores. The popular chegg.com allows you to rent books for a semester, with free return shipping. This gets rid of the hassle of reselling books when the semester ends, but students who like to underline and take notes in the margins should consider buying their books instead.
Students can also soak in the Morningside Heights literary scene by browsing through the vendors along Broadway from 110th to 114th streets, which boast an eclectic array of mostly used books neatly set out on tables. It is possible to pick out a few Literature Humanities texts on the cheap, but these vendors have comparatively limited selections and usually don’t offer textbooks. It is a delight for the casual reader and the serious collector alike, though, to find treasures buried among the vintage prints and foreign novels—and maybe even rekindle a love of reading for pleasure, which is so easily stifled by hefty syllabi.
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Comparing real costs
Why run from store to store and website to website? To the right is the breakdown of prices and options available at a few popular booksellers on campus and online for one common text. Check Spectator’s blog, Spectrum, for a similar cost comparison of other popular coursebooks.
Hubbard, “Economics,” third ed. (Principles of Economics):
* Book Culture: $194.00 (new)
* CU Bookstore: $186.25 (new), $139.70 (used)
* Amazon: $147.32 (new, free shipping), $123.68 and up (used)
* Half.com: $120.00 and up (used)
* Chegg.com: $55.49 (rent)
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