By: Abby Muresan

Sadly, summer is over. The dreadful (or fun) experience of school supply shopping comes along, and then school begins. But what about buying textbooks? HB is one of the few schools I know where we must buy textbooks rather than use old textbooks from students of past years. Would students at HB rather have new textbooks or is this more of a standard that the school itself has created? I created a survey to learn how the students are truly feeling. Here are the responses of 78 students.

“How do you feel when buying textbooks for the school year?”

Around 84% of students were either very annoyed or guilty on the matter of buying textbooks. This statistic makes sense especially if they feel as though the purchase is unnecessary. 

“Do you need new textbooks every year?”

This response shocked me the most. Around 76% of students feel that they don’t. Only 16% of students want new textbooks. And the other 8% feel they want barely used textbooks. I feel as though this fully shows how many students find the purchase of new textbooks very unnecessary. 

“Would you be fine if the school had us reuse textbooks?”

Around 90% of students said yes. The rest want them just want them in good condition. I feel as though this survey so far shows how the school wants the look of new textbooks more than the student body. 

“Do you sell your textbooks at the end of the year? Do you find this effective?”

Majority of the people said no. But, if they did, they only sold them to people they know and not through the school. If students do sell their textbooks, they don’t find it effective. They feel as though the price decreases so much to the point where it’s not even worth it. 

Overall, I feel as though this survey effectively shows the importance of allowing students to use their voice when it comes to administrative policies that directly affect them. I feel like the purchase of textbooks every year is extremely unnecessary, and many students agree. Obviously, some books must be annotated or written extensively in, and therefore should probably be purchased yearly. But big textbooks, on the other hand, could be reused for a few years until their condition diminishes. This would then make the back-to-school shopping process less costly and stressful for many students and their families.