MSA to make book buying less of a hassle

Students may no longer have to wait in long lines and search for books amidst the confusion in campus book stores during fall and winter book rush.

The Michigan Student Assembly passed a resolution earlier this month to organize a committee devoted to shortening the tiresome and tedious process of buying textbooks.

Bill Briggs, vice chair of the rules and elections committee, said the committee will find ways to improve the book-buying system for students. Michigan Book & Supply, Ulrich's Book Store, the Michigan Union Bookstore and Shaman Drum Bookshop are the key parties involved in the issue.

"What MSA is trying to do is form a committee to find alternative ways to make it convenient to buy books," said Briggs, temporary chair of the textbook committee. "This is where you we can look at a range of issues and look at possible solutions for everyone that's a player."

LSA Rep. Barry Rosenberg and Academic Affairs Committee Chair Rachel Schlenker are working with Briggs on the project.

Committee members and bookstore owners said they are concerned that basic procedures University professors follow when ordering books for their courses inconvenience students and cost them more money.

Professors choose the bookstore that will carry the texts for their courses, they said. Textbook orders received by either Michigan Book & Supply, Ulrich's Bookstore or the Michigan Union Book Store are sent to the Textbook Reporting Service. Shaman Drum Bookshop is not part of this system.

The service circulates the booklists to the other two bookstores that did not receive the direct order from professors. Professors are not given a deadline to send their booklists to book stores.

Briggs, an LSA junior, said that because professors often order their books late, students are inconvenienced by having to wait until the first day of class to buy textbooks.

Michigan Book & Supply owner Steve Schindler said his biggest concern with the delay in receiving professors' booklists is that it can be costly for students.

"That is the biggest key to pricing - the professors orders - to get them in on time," Schindler said.

Schindler said that many used books are rejected during the time stores buy back books because professors do not make it known whether the same books will be used the following term. Because so many used textbooks are not bought back during buy back, book stores have fewer used books to sell.

"We get 20 percent of book orders the week before and the first week of classes. There's no way we can get used books," Schindler said.

Briggs and Rosenberg said the committee also is concerned about the tax students pay when buying textbooks. The state legislature is currently discussing a bill to eliminate sales tax on textbooks. But Schindler said that although he supports the idea, he is not confident the proposal will be a success.

Shaman Drum has created a monopoly on humanities books, Briggs said.

Rosenberg said the committee will attempt to make Shaman Drum's booklists available to other stores in order to reduce book prices.

"My theory is if there's a monopoly of one person, it's pretty expensive. But when there's lots of competition among more people, it's usually a little bit cheaper," said Rosenberg, an LSA senior.

Schindler said that if Shaman Drum were to open its booklists to other stores, book prices would not be affected.

"The publishers say what the price is and that's what we charge," Schindler said. "Shaman Drum is following the exact same administering standards we are. The problem they have is availability."

Rosenberg said he is hopeful the committee will improve the book-buying process.

"A goal of the committee is to increase dialogue and begin talking about these issues to see what to change to help lower costs and improve book-buying for students," Rosenberg said.

Shaman Drum managers could not be reached for comment.

Any student interested in joining the textbook committee can e-mail Briggs at wjbriggs@umich.edu.

02-27-98