Inside information to make getting textbooks simple and cheap

Nicole Elsasser

With all of the expenses that a university student must incur in the name of getting an education, textbooks can be a particularly difficult one to bare. Firstly, they are often painfully expensive. And you have to buy a whole lot of them every semester. And sometimes you buy the expensive textbook only to find that the professor barely refers to it at all. It’s enough to drive a first-year insane.
But fear not, The Ontarion has decided to let you, the bright-eyed incoming first-year student, in on a few secrets that most of us didn’t figure out until our third or fourth year.
The first thing to note is that there are two university bookstores where you can buy your textbooks with minimal effort. One is the University Bookstore, located in MacNaughton, and is run by the university and the other is the Co-op Bookstore, located in the basement of Johnston Hall, which is student run. Both are great for offering everything you’ll need, stocking used copies of textbooks when available and being helpful when you need a hand. A difference is that the University bookstore is self-serve, meaning you get your own books while at the Co-op bookstore; employees will get your books for you.
Those are most likely the ways you’ll come by most of your textbooks but be aware that they are not the only options. A website run by the Central Student Association, thecannon.ca, has a classified section where you can find people selling textbooks, among other things, at a greatly reduced price. The website is fairly easy to navigate and you can usually find the textbooks you are looking for being sold by one of your fellow students. Just make sure that the textbook being sold is the right edition and that the professor hasn’t changed the edition they’re using recently. Buying textbooks this way is really common and usually you just e-mail the person, schedule a meet-up, pay them cash and have yourself a textbook.
If you’re thinking you might like to avoid buying a particular textbook altogether, believe it or not, there are ways to do this. Most course instructors will put a copy (or two) of the textbook on course reserve at the library where you are free to take it out and use it for two-hour intervals at a time.
Duncan Day-Myron, a fourth-year student at the U of G and a seasoned course reserve user, explained that he hasn’t bought a book for school in years.
“Almost all textbooks are available through course reserve,” said Day-Myron. “Check in advance and if you’re not going to need the book a lot, get it from course reserve instead of buying. Just don’t count on the textbook always being there close to exams.”
If you’re lucky enough to be in English, Philosophy, Theatre Studies or any other program that uses novels or more common books as textbooks, you can usually get your hands on a copy to take out from the university library or the Guelph Public Library.
And there you have it. Information about getting your hands on textbooks that it would have taken you years to learn. You’re welcome.

Your anonymous comment may be printed in The Ontarion's print publication.