Tom Simpson, who works at San Diego State University’s bookstore, may not condone some of the tactics students use to get around the exorbitant prices of textbooks, but he’s certainly sympathetic to their plight. He says so in a “Soapbox” guest editorial in Publishers Weekly. What inspired him was a recent sale he made to a student: two books for $325.

“This year,” he writes, “the college bookstore where I work has its first books priced north of $200. That price tag is painful in any year, but when people are hurting, it’s a travesty.”

Textbook prices have made a lot of headlines recently, highlighted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s initiative to push his state’s school system into e-textbooks. (Read Hasta La Vista, Textbooks.)

Is Simpson’s store selling e-textbooks? “Digital books have also seen an uptick in sales,” he says. “This semester we have 265 titles available in electronic editions, and with prices reduced to around 40% or 50% off the new hardcover price, an increasing number of students are willing to download a book or read it online.”

Students will do just about anything to hold down the cost of books, including buying used books and international editions, borrowing, sharing and renting. But when all legitimate approaches have been exhausted, there is always stealing. “Cheap is nice,” says Simpson wistfully “but free is better.”

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by Publishers Weekly.