Q: How much did you pay for all textbooks, hardcopy and e-textbooks, this semester
Sarah Timmerman: For the fall semester, I paid $125 and then for the spring, I paid $80. Together, that’s $205 for this entire year.
Sarah Timmerman, 20
University of Northern Iowa
Spring 2018 sophomore
Hometown: Clive, Iowa
Major: Elementary Education, special education minor
Q: What was your most expensive book?
Timmerman: My most expensive books were for Russia/the Soviet Union. They were each about $35. That was for the fall. For the spring, it was an Arts Integration book—so it’s like how to incorporate the arts into a classroom, like dance, music, all that stuff. It cost $34.38.
Q: How often do you use your textbooks?
Timmerman: Some classes I use the textbook daily, but a lot of them I don’t use very often—maybe once a month.
Q: How much did you spend on textbooks this semester, not e-books?
Timmerman: About $30 for hard-copy [in the spring]. I spent about $105 for hard-copy for the fall.
Q: How often do you use the Internet?
Timmerman: I use it everyday, all the time.
Q: Did you resell your books from last semester?
Timmerman: I did.
Q: How much money did you get back for them?
Timmerman: Not a lot—$10 or $15 total. I sold one to a friend, but the rest were to the bookstore.
Q: Does the value you get from your textbooks match what you pay for them?
Timmerman: No, not at all.
