Book corporation voiced by Cougs, for Cougs

SBC provides student discounts, price matches to cheapen textbooks

Victory+Jones%2C+the+public+relations+representative+for+the+Student+Book+Corporation%2C+emphasizes+that+the+corporation+is+to+help+students+with+funding.+

JULIA KAMINSKI | THE DAILY EVERGREEN

Victory Jones, the public relations representative for the Student Book Corporation, emphasizes that the corporation is to help students with funding.

HALLE LONG, Evergreen reporter

Many students complain about the price of textbooks, but one student-run organization works to make textbooks as economically affordable as they can.

Victory Jones, undergraduate student director of the Student Book Corporation (SBC), said she works to educate people on what the SBC does and stands for. She began serving her freshman year because she wanted “to be involved in a way that actually gives back to students.”

The SBC has a student-run board of directors and is a parent company of the Bookie that is “working hard to make sure students are getting more affordable textbooks — as affordable as they can be economically,” Jones said.

The Bookie offers an automatic 10 percent discount on all textbooks. Jones said the company also price-matches any other authorized seller like Amazon, though the seller must be an official retailer or the price-match does not apply. In addition, the Bookie offers considerable discounts on rentals.

The SBC also provides yearly dividends to ASWSU and GPSA that allow them to further help students with funding. Part of their dividends funded the project that allowed students to park at the Student Recreation Center for free.

Anna Budke, chairperson of the corporation and a senior majoring in accounting, enjoyed “a bunch of nerd stuff” on campus. Budke participated in Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Club, outdoor activities like hiking and camping and the co-ed business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi.

She said her goal is to make people more aware of the bookstore and the SBC.

“Our purpose … is to reduce the burden students take on to get the tools they need to succeed,” Budke said.

The SBC is piloting a program called “First Day.” Budke said this program will help reduce cost of textbooks for several different courses, including chemistry.

In this program, the cost of textbooks is automatically tacked on to the course fee of the class. Budke said this may enable students to use financial aid and scholarships to help pay for textbooks instead of having to pay out of pocket.

She said books will cost less through this program than they are through Amazon or the publisher.

Though only a few classes are part of the program during its pilot semester, Budke said she hopes to keep expanding until more classes are included.

The SBC is not only a parent company of the Bookie, but also of CoreTech, which is situated next to the Bookie in the CUB.

The tech company began in 2015 as one of SBC’s storefronts when the SBC board saw a need for a store that could service Apple products. The store provided students a way to address their technology problems without having to drive to what was previously the nearest Apple store in Spokane.

For those interested in getting involved in SBC, Jones said the process is similar to obtaining a regular job.

The SBC tables inside the Bookie every spring, where they recruit by handing out paper applications and answering questions. Jones said the SBC also sends out a mass email to students alerting them of opportunities to get involved.

After applicants are given time to fill out the application, the interviewing process begins and finalists are selected for a position.

As a student-run corporation, there are five student voting members and two non-student members on the board. Jones said because the board is a student majority, it understands the cost of textbooks and the burden of obtaining them.

“The biggest point to drive home is that we represent the students,” Jones said. “We are students representing the students.”