Sustainable textbooks save time, money

For students attending college, the cost of tuition is not the only financial burden to worry about. Each term, students not only spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks, but publishing houses often print new editions, making it hard to find used copies. To help solve this problem, the Portland State Bookstore is partnering with Hewlett Packard to create a more sustainable and business-friendly version of a practice that has been around for decades.

Joining Arizona State University and the University of Kansas as the only schools to participate in this pilot program, the PSU Bookstore’s ultimate goal is to lower costs for both students and itself.

The new digital format of textbooks allows a more on-demand model of purchasing: The technology allows users to print and bind the book, as well as have it ready within seven minutes of a student’s request.

In the past, bookstores would order the amount of textbooks that classes predicted for their enrollment. However, not all students purchase their textbooks through the university bookstore, and some don’t purchase the textbooks at all. According to Ken Brown, the PSU bookstore president and CEO, the costs associated with shipping back and forth then result in a huge loss for the bookstore.

Now the bookstore receives a digital file from the publisher, and then owns the rights to print the book as many times as needed, Brown said.  

HP’s new on-demand model for printing textbooks could revolutionize old practices, and make current an industry that to some has missed the mark when it comes to student services.

“I feel the cost of textbooks can be absolutely ridiculous. I spend an average of $300 a semester on textbooks. It’s even more frustrating that most textbooks are useful for only a single semester,” said PSU student Charlene Xu. “Cutting back costs in any way would be extremely helpful.”

Brown was instrumental in having HP’s pilot program come to the university; at a conference HP representatives approached him to ask whether bringing this new technology to campus.

The printers, which are manufactured in Corvallis, are lent to the PSU Bookstore as part of the pilot program. Both the PSU Bookstore and HP share the production costs.

“The greatest frustration has been securing agreements with publishers,” Brown said.

Mid-tier publishers have proven easier to work with, according to Brown. Cengage and McGraw-Hill are two of the publishers who have agreed to enter into this new format of printing.

“The benefit for publishers is that they do not have to ship [the textbooks] or store them in a warehouse,” Brown said. “The publishers then save on warehouse taxes, shipping costs and overall warehouse costs.”

The new type of textbooks would cost around $15, a fraction of what students currently pay for textbooks. However, students are not the only ones benefiting from the change, as the PSU Bookstore was stuck with a costly system.

“Students aren’t reliable purchasers anymore; if we buy 100 textbooks and only 25 are purchased, we are sending 75 back, all through diesel fuel,” Brown said.

In addition, the new textbook format is much more sustainable than traditional textbooks.

“Every portion is fully recyclable,” Brown said. The books are printed on recyclable paper and are laminated in an eco-friendly plastic that HP specifically uses for this program. The whole production of printing a textbook from a digital file takes about seven minutes.

The bookstore has already secured content for fall term and hopes to increase the textbook availability by winter term.

“We definitely want to go to winter term with a significant title increase,” Brown said. “Depending on who you talk to it’s an opportunity, it’s a win for the students as well as [for] our campus.”

The new HP program is also partnering with  Lulu.com, where authors can publish their own material. Now, through this new technology, they can print using the website as well.

To showcase this technology, an open house will be held at the PSU Bookstore tomorrow at 11 a.m.