The Textbook Market Fairness Act, initiated by the student advocacy group Virginia21 and sponsored by Delegate G. Glenn Oder, R-Newport News, easily passed the Virginia Senate Committee on Education and Health late Thursday and will move to theSenate for consideration next week.
The Act would require Virginia colleges and universities to post lists of textbooks for particular classes on school Web sites as soon as professors or department heads make them available. It also would prohibit professors from accepting publisher incentives for requiring students to use a specific textbook.
According to Virginia21, the average amount a Virginia student spends on textbooks each semester totals 23 percent as much as the average they spend on tuition -- and textbook costs are still rising.
"The goal of this legislation is to allow students to comparison shop for their textbooks," Virginia21 Communications Director David Solimini said. "If students know what books they will need far enough in advance, they will have a chance to buy them from cheaper sources."
Solimini noted that online vendors sometimes sell textbooks over 40 percent cheaper than college bookstores do but students often do not have enough time to use these resources before classes begin.
Oder, whose daughter attends the College of William & Mary, said he has seen the advantage of buying textbooks online first hand.
"My daughter was able to save 25 to 30 percent on her textbooks this year through Amazon.com," Oder said, adding that he thinks the legislation will enable all Virginia students to enjoy similar savings.
Jon Kates, executive director of the University Bookstore and Cavalier Computers, said the legislation's requirements would put the Bookstore in a difficult position.
"The textbook information is very fluid," Kates said. "Each semester, 10 to 15 percent of class booklists are changed after they have been given to us."
If the Bookstore has to provide the lists by a specific date, Kates said some of the posted lists may not reflect the changes.
"We may give students inaccurate information, and they may buy the wrong textbooks elsewhere," he said.
All profits generated by the Bookstore go back to the University. The Bookstore currently funds six scholarships, and last year it gave $50,000 to Student Council.
Kates agreed that textbook prices can be very high but argued that any money students save because of the legislation will be minimal in the long run.
"The purpose of this legislation is to free the textbook market for students, and I understand that," he said, "but the central issue is why publishers charge as much as they do."
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