Every semester I drag myself to the University Bookstore to get all of my books, knowing that at least one of my classes will have some mistake or some missing book. Then, I have to wait as long as three weeks just to get the book that I’m already so far behind in reading.
This semester I had one book mix-up and two books I had to order. To me, this is unacceptable. The U Bookstore should have an adequate supply of books for students. Instead, there are always students reserving and waiting for books when they could be doing their homework.
The solution the U Bookstore presented to me to make sure I got a book for my class was to reserve the book online. I don’t think I should have to do this. The workers at the U Bookstore should be able to ensure everyone has one by ordering books for the maximum amount of students per class and later sending the remainders back. With the U Bookstore’s current system, buying your books at the start of the semester seems to be the only guaranteed way to get every book you need.
There are always alternatives such as amazon.com, but being on special accounting doesn’t give me the option to shop around. The U Bookstore is the only source I can use and it makes the situation all the more frustrating.
My book mix-up experience this semester happened when the bookstore ordered the wrong book for one of my classes. It admitted it had made the mistake and immediately ordered the right books. The book is scheduled to arrive the second week of school, but the professor cannot just wait for the books. She has to start the work with the limited amount of time given to her to teach. These events are putting my class behind in reading and building up a good deal of homework for us to do. I already have enough work each week without having to add another week’s worth.
The other two books that I had to order were not textbooks set aside for class, but novels from the regular part of the bookstore. This happened because my professor decided he was going to save us money by not ordering the books through the U Bookstore. However, instead of this saving me money, it just wasted my time. He could have ordered the books with the knowledge that some students don’t purchase their books from the U Bookstore anyway. Between his ordering and the U Bookstore not having these well known and classic books in stock, I was behind in my reading for yet another class.
The U Bookstore has been messing up orders and being out-of-stock since I was admitted to this school years ago, and probably for a long time before that. I think it has become a big inconvenience for me and others. Each semester we have to wait around in order to get our hands on school books. It’s the U Bookstore’s job to have what is required for our classes, so it needs to fix its inventory problems so valuable time isn’t wasted.