The UConn Textbooks Library collected old textbooks on Fairfield Way Tuesday afternoon (Nicholas Hampton/The Daily Campus)
The University of Connecticut’s Student-Run Textbook Library club hosted their first student textbook drop-off Wednesday afternoon on Fairfield Way.
During the drop-off, students donated their old and unwanted textbooks to the club. Next semester, UConn’s Student Run Textbook Library will help find students who need these textbooks, Taylor Farrell, founder and president of UConn’s Student Run Textbook Library club and sixth-semester physiology and neurobiology major, said.
“Students can donate used textbooks to help those in need, with the peace of mind that they have helped a fellow student who would not otherwise be able to afford those supplies,” Farrell said.
Farrell said that the club is currently working with UConn PIRG’s Open Educational Resources and is trying to create unique opportunities for students to help other students who suffer from financial constraint.
“Having this library on campus is important because student debt is a very real crisis,” she said. “It is imperative to start the conversation that a higher education should be universally available to those who wish to seek it.”
According to the College Board, it is estimated that undergraduate students should budget an average of twelve hundred dollars a year for textbooks and educational supplies. Farrell said that this number is too expensive for a lot of students.
“(The College Board statistics are) not realistic for a lot of us,” Farrell said. “UConn’s Student-Run Textbook Library hopes to alleviate some of that stress and supplement academic success.”
Catherine Menousek, an eighth-semester ecology and evolutionary biology major with an animal science minor, donated 11 books. The books ranged from a field guide for trees to general biology. She said she was looking for options to help other students with her old textbooks to save herself time from trying to sell them.
“Seniors create such a surplus of textbooks and you will probably get like $5 back,” Menousek said. “It’s not worth my time to figure out how to sell my books.”
George Zoghbi, an eighth-semester electrical engineering major, said he planned to donate some of his math and programming books.
“I had always felt bad about selling books to someone who has needed it because they can get expensive,” Zoghbi said. “I have a bunch that I didn’t really open so it’s kind of a waste. I want to give back.”
Next semester, students interested in getting one of these textbooks can email the club to fill out a request form, Farrell said. Pick-ups will be coordinated during the first two weeks of the semester. To donate or receive books, email UConnTextbookLibrary@gmail.com for more information.
Rachel Philipson is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at rachel.philipson@uconn.edu.
