Students are waiting patiently in line near the library’s copy machine. A growing number of Fresno City College students have cut costs significantly this semester by finding alternatives to buying their textbooks. One of the newest trends: photocopying textbooks available on library reserve.

    When asked about how many students come in daily to use textbooks from the reserve, library technical services assistant Theresa Delaney said, “It is unknown on the exact number of students. However, this year has been the busiest year in 13 years.”

    Students are able to copy two pages from the textbook at a time, front to back, for 10 cents a page. If a book’s average chapter length were 20 pages and contained 30 chapters, it would cost the student merely $30 to photocopy the entire textbook.

    When asked if restrictions were set by the college to prevent copyright infringement, Delaney said, “The school follows copyright laws and has them posted by the copy machines. It is up to the student to follow those laws.”

    The relevant restrictions posted included the messages, “copying several chapters per book,” and “copying several articles per magazine.”

    When asked why she chose photocopying as an alternative to purchasing textbooks, FCC English major Rebekah Morrisson said, “It costs less to make copies than to buy the book and you’re giving change to the library.”

    Overall, the photocopying method has proven to be the one of the cheapest. Students with a limited budget also seek local bookstores and online services to find the cheapest books.    

    Among the alternatives, the newest of online textbook services is Chegg.com, an online textbook rental service. At Chegg.com, students may rent their textbooks for a fraction of the listed retail price. However, late fees may apply for rentals not turned in by the designated due date.

    FCC psychology major Nicole Marroquin, who is an avid customer of Chegg.com, said, “I am able to save a lot of money by renting my books. Plus, I’m saving the planet because a tree is planted for every book I rent from Chegg.com.”

    When asked about the disadvantages of returning rented books, Marroquin said, “It sucks that I have to go out of my way to the UPS. But I don’t have to pay to ship the books out, so it works out.”

For those who find online transactions untrustworthy, local bookstores are yet another available resource. Located across the street from Fresno City College, University Bookstore and TK College Bookstore are among the few bookstores that carry textbooks needed by FCC students. Although there are many local bookstore locations, few carry the textbooks FCC students seek. Often, students who choose to shop around the city for textbooks end up spending more time and money than necessary.

    More often than not, students seek textbook retailers aside from the FCC bookstore that offer lower prices on the textbooks they need. However, many students still choose the FCC bookstore for a one-stop shop. 

    Undeclared major Herber Ortiz said, “I just want to buy my books here. It’s more convenient for me. I don’t have to wait for my books to ship and the prices are reasonable.”

    FCC assistant bookstore manager Gina Tarvin said, “Students don’t realize that the revenue earned from used book sales is put toward college activities and renovations.”

    In addition to price, another element of buying books from the campus bookstore to consider is the new refund policy, which requires all refunds to be made within five days and a 10 percent handling charge is applied to most refunds.

    While shopping for a textbook at the campus FCC bookstore, liberal studies major Laura Martinez said, “It doesn’t have to be brand new. As long as I can read it and it’s cheap.”

    Martinez added, “I’ll probably look online after this.”