We are a community bound together by ritual and tradition. We bond over our customs because they have helped make Andover the unique place it is, and continues to shape The Academy’s future course. One tradition is the Andover Bookstore. A pivotal part of this community’s past, present, and future, the bookstore has a lot to offer to students. It provides us with a convenient system of purchasing textbooks, stocks Andover paraphernalia, progressively works to make students’ lives easier, and remains open to students’ suggestions. Not only is the bookstore a valuable tradition that ought to be preserved, but it also makes our lives easier at the chaotic beginning of the term. But today, students are concerned of the costs of maintaining a tradition, as the Andover Bookstore has been condemned for price gouging. However, a simple comparison of prices between the bookstore and Amazon.com, shows that this belief is not accurate. The Calculus: Concepts & Contexts textbook cost approximately $132.56 at the Bookstore. On Amazon, the price is still nearly the same. A new version of the same textbook goes for $135.95 before shipping. It would be against the bookstore’s best interest to raise textbook prices unreasonably because, despite the contract it has with the school to be the primary text provider, it does not have a complete monopoly over Andover’s books. Many students have turned to on-line sites to get their textbooks and others make use of the Text Exchange. The Andover Bookstore needs to remain competitive. Another common complaint is that the lines to purchase textbooks are frustratingly long. During the peak time from 3-6 p.m. on the Tuesday we return to classes, the bookstore owners recorded a line no longer than 30 minutes. Although a half-hour is not unreasonable, it is still inconvenient. The owners of the bookstore advise students to buy their books at different times in the day, either before or after the mad rush that occurs in the late afternoons. The primary reason that students continue to buy textbooks at the bookstore over on-line alternatives is because the store’s system is convenient: your books are neatly laid out, you grab what you need, pay and move on. Students may gripe about the bookstore’s drawbacks, but nevertheless, they return each term to pick up their books. Clearly, few students are troubled by the store’s policies enough to stop patronizing it. Despite long lines, most students feel that having your books on the day you need them is worth the wait. The benefits ultimately outweigh the drawbacks. The exchange policy can cause inconveniences for some students, but there is little that the Andover Bookstore can do to lengthen the two-week grace period. It has already extended the return deadline to three days after our Course Add/Dropdeadline, so students are able to return unnecessary books. The publishing companies require that the bookstore send back unsold copies within a certain period, so if students are planning on returning their books, they have to make the return within with two-week period that the bookstore specifies in order that the bookstore can send the unsold copies back. The bookstore has remained an important piece of the Andover community, both the school and town, for over a hundred years. It remains part of our history, yet it adapts to meet the changing needs of the students. It offers us reasonably priced textbooks, and its expediency helps us save precious time. Clearly, it is the wisest choice for textbook purchases because it allows us to get our books the day we need them at a price comparable to online sites. The Andover Bookstore is a tradition worth saving for sentimental and practical reasons.
