Julieth Smith, an employee at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College’s bookstore, stocks books on Aug. 19. High textbook prices often prompt parents and students to shop locally, search online or buy used books. (Photo: JASON SMITH)

Aside from two employees busily stocking the shelves, the bookstore at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College was quiet on Aug. 19, the day before hundreds of students returned to class.

Julieth Smith, an employee at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College’s bookstore, stocks books on Aug. 19. High textbook prices often prompt parents and students to shop locally, search online or buy used books. (Photo: JASON SMITH)
Julieth Smith, who has worked at the store for two years, knew that the quiet would not last. Textbook-buying students cram the aisles ahead of their first classes, making the first two weeks of school the busiest for the store, she said.

“You have to make preparations. You have to get the books on the shelves. You have to get pricing in order, to get the tags up,” she said, adding that she likes seeing the students. “It’s enjoyable.”

Although many instructors have placed more emphasis on online learning in recent years, most students at HLSCC and the territory’s public schools have a long list of books to buy. Ms. Smith said that the college is trying to reduce the cost of books, mainly by offering used ones for the first time this year.

“We’re just now implementing that,” she said. “We’ll see how it goes and probably end up implementing a buy-back programme. But we’re looking at all the options that would be more feasible for students in these hard economic times.”

Online sales

Other students are seeking their books online through overseas sites like Amazon.com or through Facebook groups like BVI Books, which facilitate exchange.

A new copy of the textbook Between One and Many: The Art and Science of Public Speaking goes for $134 new on Amazon. A seller on BVI Books is offering it for $75.

Public school textbook sales are also keeping the territory’s retailers busy.

At National Educational Services Bookstore, the summer months are often the busiest time of the year, according to Dahlia France, the store’s supervisor. Book prices can vary depending on where they are produced and shipped from, whether locally, regionally, the United Kingdom or the United States, she said.

For Curnal Fahie at Transformation Church International, high textbook costs are one more thing that parents have to worry about. That’s why the church, and its affiliated Access Bookstore, has a collection of several dozen used textbooks in addition to its supply of religious books.

“We have a lot of single parents, especially single mothers,” he said. “If they have one or more students in school it can be a challenge.”

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