Textbooks: Cost-effective ways to obtain them

There is no hiding the fact that attending college is both an investment of time and money. For many students, there are limited financial resources with which to meet the financial demands of college. Therefore, here are just a few suggestions of how you might be able to curb the associated cost of textbooks.

  1. Check with the campus Library – some professors put their required texts “on reserve” at the library and other times the library may have a copy you can check out for several weeks at a time
  2. Check with the Central Arkansas Public Library (a local branch or the main one downtown) or go online at http://vera.cals.lib.ar.us/ and type in the name of the book in the center (empty) text box toward the top of the page
  3. Ask classmates if they might be willing to share the cost of a textbook – this is particularly helpful if you take similar classes to someone you live with or near
  4. Rent books from the bookstore on campus
  5. Buy or rent used books from local bookstores within the same town (e.g. Textbook Brokers)
  6. Check online with Amazon and similar sites (e.g. ebay.half.com) for older versions or cheaper options (check with your faculty member first to make sure an older version will be acceptable)
  7. Type the ISBN number of each book into the Google search text bar and search for options
  8. Ask your instructor if you can borrow a ‘desk copy’ for the required text in the course being taken

 

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