Students nationwide will spend billions of dollars on college textbooks and course materials this year, but they have more options of where to spend than ever before.
According to the National Association of College Stores' financial report, students spent $5.5 billion at textbook stores in the 2006-07 school year.
Course books can be rented, borrowed or bought through the campus bookstores, used book stores and online sources.
Some students have been met with empty shelves at the UNM Bookstore because their books haven't arrived or are already sold out.
Melanie Sparks, UNM Bookstore director, said the store did not intentionally understock textbooks.
Some books are missing because the bookstore does not acquire all of them before classes start, she said. The problem is that some professors don't turn in an order for the required books until after the deadline, she said.
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Book orders were due by October, and the Bookstore continued receiving them until classes began Jan. 20, Sparks said.
"There's quite a few that wait until the last minute, and actually we've been starting to work with the provost, Suzanne Ortega, on this exact issue," Sparks said.
The Bookstore needs to receive a book order to acquire used and new textbooks, Sparks said.
If the book order is not received in time, the Bookstore can't buy back the course material from students and receive additional course books from the publisher, she said.
"That's when students get upset, and that's when the Bookstore gets upset," Sparks said.
Student Kezica Flores said she buys her course material from the Bookstore because she has financial aid, even though the required texts aren't always available.
"I still haven't been able to find my English book, but I haven't gone back," she said. "When I went a week before class, they weren't there."
Book orders may be turned in late for a number of reasons, including not being satisfied with the book in use, wanting to find an updated textbook and not having time to submit a book order.
The number of professors who have turned in their book information to the Bookstore has increased this semester, but it could be better, Sparks said.
During the fall semester, the Bookstore received 723 titles needed from faculty compared to 629 titles the year before, she said.
"They did a much better job actually this semester," she said. "We had the biggest buyback list ever; we handed out more money to the students than ever, and I think we are making great strides with working with the provost and faculty to get the book orders in on time. So, things are getting better."
Student Jacquelin Botto said purchasing course books from the Bookstore is a last resort.
"I buy them at UNM - the ones that I have to - that I can't borrow or find somewhere else cheaper," she said.
Bryan Yu, manager at Samee's Textbooks, said that in the three weeks since the store opened, they have seen students who are looking for an alternate place to buy books.
"One chemistry book, the school is selling it for $200, and we sell it for $104," Yu said.
Jeff Sherwood, CEO of bookseller BigWords.com, said students sometimes aren't aware that they have options of where they can purchase their course books.
BigWords.com compares prices of textbooks online to show students where to find the best price for their book.
"I think it's important for people to understand that there are alternatives to going to the campus bookstore," Sherwood said.
Online sales for the academic year of 2006-07 were $499 million, or 5.3 percent of the total college textbook sales, according to the National Association of College Stores.
Sherwood estimates the online market takes a much greater share of textbook sales.
He said the number of students looking to the Internet for their books has increased since his company began in 2001 and that the Web site sees 50 percent more customers each year.
"When we started, I would say 99 percent of books were purchased in the school bookstore, and then there was a small market for sort of off-campus used bookstores," he said. "Now, it looks like online purchases account for about 30 percent of overall textbook purchases."
Botto said she tried to buy her books online but couldn't find the ones she needed.
Student Rachel Robinson said she doesn't go to the Bookstore or online to buy textbooks - she just borrows them from friends.
"I try to spend as little money as possible on textbooks," Robinson said.
Sherwood said textbooks are the third largest expense for students, after tuition and housing.
"Textbooks and tuition costs seem to go up every single year, and it really is a huge burden," he said. "The average cost of textbooks is $900 for a year of textbooks, and we save students about 50 percent."
