Monday, August 29, 2005
A handful of professors are encouraging their students to purchase books from independent bookstores instead of larger, more well-known textbook distributors.
Instead of shopping at the KU Bookstore in the Kansas Union or another store that relies primarily on textbook sales, students are checking in to smaller shops in order to find their books.
Rylan Howe / KANSAN
Todd Wilkins, Lawrence sophomore and The Raven Bookstore employee, resorts a bookshelf yesterday afternoon. The Raven Bookstore, 6 E.7th St., sells books of numerous genres and emphasizes mysteries and works about regional history.
Jon Swindell, professor of design, ordered books through Raven Bookstore, 8 E. 7th St. He said he enjoyed sending his students to the more intimate environment Raven provided.
“It’s one way for me to get my students into an environment that I think is more about artful conversations and gets them into an environment with real literature as opposed to sending them to a more commercial venue,” Swindell said.
Sarah Mueting, Lenexa junior, is taking one of Lecturer Chris White’s Latin American history classes this semester. White used Raven to order some of his books. Mueting said she agreed with the use of local bookstores, but said there were some downsides. Some of the books she needed were unavailable, however, because the store sold out early.
“They should overorder if they do local bookstores because they don’t have the same ability to reorder as quickly,” Mueting said.
Also challenging is selling books back at the end of the semester. Because the larger bookstores don’t stock the books, they don’t purchase them back at the end of the year. The independent bookstores don’t typically buy books back either.
Pat Kehdes, co-owner of Raven, said she appreciated professors helping students understand it made a difference where their money went.
Kehdes also noted that students who venture downtown to buy books would see what else Lawrence’s downtown had to offer.
“It does bring students downtown who would only come to get a pizza or a beer,” Kehdes said.
Local bookstores also appreciated the extra business generated because students provide a sale they may otherwise not have, Kehdes said.
Shannon Jones, manager of The Dusty Bookshelf, 708 Massachusetts St., said the store did not order books specifically for professors. Often though, professors often refer students to The Dusty Bookshelf in order to find texts, especially for western civilization or English courses, Jones said. The Dusty Bookshelf is primarily a used bookstore, and Jones thought there were enough venues offering textbooks already.
“The market is pretty saturated for that. It’s a space issue. We already have books overflowing onto the floor,” Jones said.
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