ABACC Monthly Newsletter
February 2012
News
Feature Article
Textbook Rental in the Digital Age
By: Darren Campbell, CEO, Tree of Life Bookstores, Inc.
As I sit down to write this, the spring textbook-selling season is in full swing. My, how times have changed. When I was a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan University in 1991, the bookstore experience was much different than it is today. First off, I must confess I was much different, too. I had a mullet. Thankfully, my hairstyle has changed!
During my college days, Marie Noggle was the sweet grandmother-type who managed our bookstore, which was crammed into the basement of an old student center.
Students stood shoulder to shoulder, first trying to figure out how to read our course schedules and then trying to find the correct books for our classes. It was chaotic and expensive! Our choice was mostly new books since few used copies were available. We were promised that even though the books were expensive, we could sell them for half price at the end of the semester. In my case, that never happened. I was lucky to get $20 to $30 back!
Things are different today. Student centers are much larger, and the stores rival those found at malls, with more gift selections and clothing styles. The Marie Noggles of this world have long since retired and been replaced with younger managers, who are one part retailer, another part analyst/stock broker and yet another part computer programmer.
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