The Oberlin Review

   Sunday, September 8th, 2013
   Established 1874
   ____________________

Oberlin Book Co-op Achieves Success

   by Erin Amlicke

   Sept. 5, 2013

   The Oberlin Book Co-op, which launched its first trade program near the
   end of last semester, continues to catch the eyes of students who are
   tired of paying extortionate textbook fees. Tucked away in room 109 of
   Harkness Co-op and open weekdays between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m.,
   SWAP, the newest addition to the Oberlin co-operative system, is packed
   with textbooks, a few light novels and plenty of students. A product of
   the "Cooperation and Cooperatives" ExCo last spring, the concept was
   initially developed by several students who sought to apply
   co-operative principles to pressing issues around campus. Recognizing
   the expensive price of textbooks, the group applied its efforts towards
   the creation of a cooperative system that fully functioned on the basis
   of trade. Starting this semester, students who donate their textbooks
   to the cooperative will receive a number of credits based on the
   co-op's evaluation of the book. Students may also exchange volunteer
   hours at the co-op for such credits, which can then be applied towards
   the acquisition of an in-house book. Once contributed, books are
   separated under the departments of humanities, social sciences, natural
   Sciences and Conservatory to be traded with the students who need them.
   However, this isn't the first cooperative bookstore to grace Oberlin.
   Prior to 1999, the Oberlin Consumer Cooperative housed a book co-op
   which served much of the greater Oberlin community. In many ways, the
   former Oberlin book co-op functioned as a traditional bookstore by
   offering textbooks at a discounted rate to students who purchased a
   membership with the co-op at the beginning of the year. Although many
   elements of the new Oberlin Book Co-op were inspired by its
   predecessor, Co-founder and Treasurer Sarah Johnson said that the
   current co-op is dedicated to "help[ing] students get their books as
   cheaply as we can," which is maintained through an established system
   of trade. Now at its one thousand book matriculation point, Johnson has
   high hopes for the project. "My personal goal would be for ... SWAP to
   be a corner in a larger business or nonprofit ... with more community
   engagement." Nonetheless, the co-op isn't currently interested in
   competing with major Oberlin book providers such as Barnes & Noble.
   Although the idea of future competition with the book seller is at
   times disputed among the nine co-founders of SWAP, Johnson is clear
   that the group "do[es] not want to put any local businesses out of
   operation and ... definitely do[es] not want to put any local people
   out of work." Since most students passing through the bookstore on
   Monday night cited alternatives to Barnes and Noble as their textbook
   source, any real competition with the major book seller seems unlikely.
   Sophomore Cria Kay previously preferred to scan the Classifieds for
   discounted textbooks, but found the co-op much simpler. " I would much
   rather have a place that I can just trade my textbook rather than sell
   my textbook and buy a new one." First-years Clara Scudder-Davis and Min
   Ming Chien instead were counting on renting their textbooks or
   acquiring them from the library, until they discovered the Book Co-op
   on the Class of 2017 Facebook page. The co-op opens itself to
   first-years, who often do not have tradable books, through the option
   of trading volunteer hours for books. The only present drawback for the
   budding bookstore is its small inventory. Many students, although
   excited by the prospect of trading books, were discouraged when they
   discovered that the titles they needed were absent. Even so, Johnson is
   confident that the store has "pretty decent streams of revenue" through
   a successful funding campaign and potential future funds obtained from
   the Student Finance Committee, local foundations and individual co-ops.
   Once acquired, all donated funds will be applied to the purchase of the
   most popularly requested textbooks. While progress at such a rostrum
   may be slow, the co-op is determined to stick to its goal and spread
   its message. "Textbooks are expensive," said Sarah Johnson. "If we can
   make those less expensive for people, that is main goal," noted
   Johnson.


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