Sarah Sanfilippo Director of Library Services Southern Vermont College, Bennington

1. got textbooks?
Sarah Sanfilippo
Director of Library Services
Southern Vermont College, Bennington

2. FTE: about 500
Holdings: 11,000+ books
A little summer home on the hill...

4. Meder Discovery Fund
• $5000/year for textbooks
• This = large portion of our book budget
• Funding ends 2013/2014
How?
CC image by Tracy O via Flickr

5. Meder Discovery Fund
• Semester-long text loans via the financial
aid office
• Faculty-student mentoring
How?
CC image by Tracy O via Flickr

6. Issues in Higher Education (2010) $900/year
Trends in College Pricing (2012) $1,244/year
Four-semester study at Daytona State College:
• 29% avoided purchasing a text due to cost at least
once
• Almost 25% had taken fewer credit hours due to
cost of books
• Renting, e-texts saved between $1 and $40, and you
can't sell them back
Why do we do it? Cost.

7. "The price of textbooks has influenced my decision to take
classes... I check which book is the cheapest, and even though
the professor might not be good, I'm forced to take that class..."
Hriday Thakkar, 19
International economics, Foothill College
Why do we do it? Students.
"I receive benefits from the GI Bill, and that is our sole income
right now. I have to… spend $400 for a couple of books… It's
unacceptable that I can't buy groceries for two weeks because I
had to pay for books."
Beth Stolyarchuk, 25
Radiology, Foothill College

8. Our “bookstore”
Process

9. TEXT
ALLOCATION
Division total cost
% of
total Meder allotment Estimate
Over/
Under
Business $232.65 10.40% $259.99 $203.54 $56.46
Humanities $265.70 11.88% $296.92 $232.58 $64.34
Nursing $869.75 38.88% $971.96 $761.13 $210.84
Sci & Tech $172.50 7.71% $192.77 $150.88 $41.90
Social Sci $696.50 31.13% $778.35 $609.38 $168.98
Other $0.00 0.00% $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
SHIPPING $45.00
Total $2,237.10 100.00% $2,500.00 $2,002.49 $542.51
Actual
spending
Over/
Under
$232.65 $27.34
$320.71 $23.79
$791.50 $180.46
$129.25 $63.52
$637.25 $141.10
$0.00 $0.00
$70.04
$2,181.40 $388.64
Process

10. Process (old)
1. Get list of all books from bookstore,
figure estimated cost
2. Get prioritized purchase list from
division chair
3. If over/under budget, back and forth
with chairs
4. Send final order to bookstore vendor
5. Deal with late professors

11. Process (new)

12. Kept behind front
desk (in our office)
Integrated with
other reserves
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Process

13. C
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Process
2-hour loan, no
holds
One of each title,
unless heavy use

14. SVC circ stats

15. SVC circ stats

16. Heavy use in 1st few weeks
Faculty: More students are not buying texts
Observations

17. Lowers costs for students
Bring bodies into the library
Benefits

18. Open book exams
Walk-aways
Heavy use
Concerns
CC image by Walt Stoneburner via Flickr

19. Future funding
Concerns
CC image by Walt Stoneburner via Flickr

20. College Board Advocacy and Policy Center. “Trends in College
Pricing.” Trends in Higher Education. College Board Advocacy and
Policy Center, 2012. Web. 14 May 2013.
Dervarics, Charles. "Students May See Some Gains Through New
Textbook Rules." Diverse: Issues In Higher Education 27.11 (2010):
6-8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 May 2013.
DeSantis, Nick. "E-Textbooks Saved Many Students Only $1, A
College Determines." Chronicle Of Higher Education 58.19 (2012):
A15. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 May 2013.
Parry, Marc. "Students About Get Savvier Textbook Buying."
Chronicle Of Higher Education 59.21 (2013): A22-A23. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 15 May 2013.
Salazar, Cristian. "Rentals Show Little Success In Curbing Textbook
Costs." Community College Week 23.8 (2010): 12-13. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 15 May 2013.
Sources