Textbooks missing from bookstore shelves

(Photo by Doriana Dragomir)

Four weeks into the Spring semester, the AUBG bookstore is still missing some textbooks. Macroeconomics and West's Business Law are already sold out, while Nationalism and Politics: the Political Behavior of Nation States has not been delivered yet.

Politics professor Benedict DeDominicis said he has been using the Nationalism and Politics book for his Southeastern Europe in International Relations course since 2001. Dedominicis said he ordered the book during the Spring 2008 semester for Fall 2009, but it never arrived. He said the bookstore manager told him the book was ordered "through a website." Dedominicis ordered the book again for Spring 2009, on time, he said, but the book has not been delivered yet.

"Thinking that the book was now out-of-print, I myself contacted the publisher of the book, Lynne Reinner, to ask permission to photocopy it," DeDominicis said. "Lynne Reinner Publishers responded that the book was not out-of-print, and it was available for ordering." A new order was placed. Meanwhile, DeDominicis put four copies of the book on reserve at the AUBG library.

Professors putting the order in late delays the acquisition process in some cases. "I'm [giving] them an order form [...] and I request those forms to be received [until] November 1," Daniela Kostova, bookstore manager, said. "[...] some professors are late, some order in December which sometimes slows the process," she added. All the companies - venders and shippers - have to make an end of the year inventory. During that time, they do not send out any orders, Kostova said.

A similar situation occurred last semester when the book, journalism professor Phelps Hawkins ordered for his Communication, Media and Society course arrived after the fall break. "I think it was the problem of the publisher and it might have been marginally affected by [my] putting the order in late," Hawkins said. It was the first time that course had a book, and he had spent a great deal of the summer deciding on the right one, he added. The book was not available on reserve at the library, but when it arrived at the bookstore Hawkins arranged that the students should only pay 50 percent of the original lease price for it.

Student Nadiya Dekina took Communication, Media and Society in the Fall semester with professor Hawkins. "[...] for the midterm we had to study from our notes and Powerpoint presentations [professor] Hawkins put on Dotlrn," Dekina added, as the book was not on reserve at the library.

Another reason for a late delivery of the books is that some of them are old editions that are harder to obtain, as publishers sell their newer copies, Kostova said. The printing houses offer other alternatives when they run out of the requested edition. The professor has to review the alternatives and make a new choice, which again takes time, she added.

The flexible class size and the variable number of course sections may also lead to an insufficient number of books. "[Until] November we still don't know about the registration [...]," Kostova said. The exact number of students in each class is not known until the add/drop week.

A warehouse in Greece provides the closest alternative to the current delivery system, but Kostova said she cannot contact it because of the troubled border relations between Greece and Bulgaria at the moment. She said the bookstore is presently looking for other options.