Does This Textbook Spark Joy?

As sociology major Anastasia Moawde cleaned her dorm room last spring she had a realization. 

“I was holding on to so many textbooks I’ll never read again,” she says. “Why not take the financial burden off of another student instead of tossing or selling them?”

While most textbooks are available on reserve at the library, they are shared resources and cannot be removed from the building. Textbook rental is another option students use to cut costs, but it can still be expensive, says Moawde, class of 2021. 

“Some teachers require multiple books for a course. Even if they’re not expensive individually, it all adds up,” she says.

Moawde brought her idea for a textbook exchange to her adviser in the College of Arts & Sciences. Together they got the initiative put onto the agenda at the next Honors Council meeting, and a pilot program soon took shape. 

Fliers and social media posts promoted by the honors program encouraged end-of-semester donations. The response was greater than expected on such short notice.

Moawde put a bin in her dorm and watched the books pile up. More students dropped books in the College of Arts & Sciences dean’s office as they finished their classes.

“One graduating senior wheeled in a suitcase of books to donate,” says Sara Miranda, an administrative assistant in the dean’s office who is helping Moawde manage the program’s logistics. 

Students donated a total of 109 undergraduate course books, ranging from accounting and finance to organic chemistry to philosophy. Each one is catalogued in an online spreadsheet and available for students to check out free for the semester on a first-come, first-served basis. 

So far 15 volumes have been checked out, representing a retail cost of over $1,400 if the books had been purchased new. 

Moawde and Miranda hope to expand the program to include graduate course books and more options for students in coming semesters. Donations will be accepted throughout the semester, with outreach for donations during finals week. 

“Maybe this could be one less expense for students to worry about,” says Miranda. “If we can take one worry off a student’s list, that’s one fewer distraction from their academic work.”