No Free Lunch

During my first fall at Bridgewater State, an unknown person came down the hallway of our office suite pulling a rolling suitcase. He stuck his head in my office and said, “Professor – do you have any books that you want to sell?” Books that I want to sell? I thought. What does this person mean? I did have a couple of books that I wouldn’t mind passing on to someone else, but sell? So, I identified a few books and watched the process unfold. The unidentified person scanned the barcode on the back of book with a handheld device and said, “I can give you $7 for that book.”

“But, I didn’t buy it. It was sent to me as a desk copy.” (A “desk” or “exam” copy is when a professor requests one copy of a book from a publisher, on the understanding that the professor might use that book in his or her own course. The copy is usually free.)

“That doesn’t matter. They are sold to students as used books for a reduced rate. This second book? I can give you $10.”

“But, it’s an instructor’s edition. It has the answers to questions and exams in it.”

“That doesn't matter. We can still sell it. In all – this comes to $17. Here you go.” And, he handed me $17. I was stunned by this free lunch.

This is actually a regular business for many people. They troll the halls of academic institutions asking to buy copies of recently published books that a professor does not want or need. These business owners then sell the books to another company that amasses used books that are then sent/sold to university/college bookstores. Most of the books that fit into this category for me are, in fact, sent to me without my request. Publishers send out copies of books as part of their marketing campaign. I even get copies of books for courses that I don’t teach and will never teach.

It seems wrong, but I’m unsure how else to proceed. So, this week when an unknown person with a rolling suitcase stuck her head inside my office door and said, “Professor – do you have any books that you want to sell?” I pushed back from my desk, went to my bookcase and pulled down two books that were sent to me by a publisher for courses that I do not teach.

Me - reaching for books that I no longer need.

“Yes, I do. I have two copies of this book that were sent to me last spring.”

“Okay,” she said, scanning the bar codes on the back of the book with a handheld device. “That’s $30.” She pulled out a roll of bills and handed me a $20 and two $5’s.

I can receive $30 for two copies of a book very similar to this, for which I did not ask and I do not need. Is this a free lunch? I have concluded no.

I am still troubled by these transactions. Surely this cannot be a free lunch. This is a shared cost to everyone associated with higher education. Publishers figure the cost of these “free” books into what they charge students for textbooks.

The upside is that somewhere, a student who cannot afford a new copy of the book  that she needs for a social work class will be able to buy my “used” copy. Surely this is good. I could leave these books in a “free pile” in the lobby to our building, but I wouldn’t want to encourage students to think that they could select this “free” book in lieu of the book that is actually assigned in the course that she is taking. I have also seen what happens to many books in the “free” pile of lobbies of academic buildings; they end up in the recycling bin.

I have concluded that there are no free lunches anywhere. We are all, always, sharing the cost of nearly everything. Clearly I am benefitting from this particular arrangement, but in the end, college students everywhere, including my own students, are paying for my lunch in this instance.

What do my readers think?