By Krystal Butler
Staff Writer
Langston students and faculty are often frustrated with the university’s lack of distributing textbooks on time and forcing students to rely on e-books.
“Research shows that students only retain roughly 40% as much information from an e-book as they do from a hard copy,” said Mick Howard, the writing center director and assistant professor in the English department.
The process of ordering books starts with the professors finding books they want, then sending the Independent Publishing Network (IPN) number to the chair in their department, which is then sent to the dean of their department. From there, the deans can approve their selections and order the books through Follet, the company the university is partnered with for textbook services.
Rhyannon Potter is the regional manager of Follet and the provider of educational services. She has been working there for 14 years and has overseen Langston’s services for two years. “You guys are fun. It makes me feel young … I like knowing that I’m helping someone’s education,” Potter said as she expressed her love for the job.
According to Potter, late returns of books from previous semesters is the main reason behind students not receiving their textbooks on time. “We will need to go through the process of sourcing and ordering,” said Potter.
Some students stressed their concerns about not having books on time. Chantele Gordon, a senior English major said, “The longest I’ve had to wait was two or three months then they finally got our books for one of my English classes.”
Less difficult to get ahold of are e-books, but they’re not a perfect solution. E-books can negatively affect students with glasses. “Having to read on a screen, it bothers my eyes, it makes it hard to keep focus on what I’m having to read because I have to take breaks,” Gordon said. Gordon also feels as though the English department does not get taken seriously because “they never have their books on time.”
Tristan Dozier, a senior corrections and criminal justice major, believes that “The ability to have the eBook read aloud to you is quite nice but I prefer hardback.” Dozier understands that most professors are not at fault when it comes to receiving books. “Talton went above and beyond and made sure we had the textbook,” said Dozier. Mr. Talton is a faculty in the social sciences department.
Faith Portor, a junior biology major, pointed out that at other institutions a student could pay “$200 just for one book, and our book fee is $200, $300.” Portor also prefers hard book covers because “It can be so draining… I take notes on my iPad while also having to look at my computer screen for my textbook.” On average, Portor uses two books per semester for her biology major. Both Portor and Dozier share that books at Langston are less costly than other institutions.
Dr. Howard orders books for his classes several weeks before school starts. When physical books are not available for students, he must “scan material and put it into Canvas,” Howard said. The books assigned for his courses are chosen by him and he is not able to substitute them. He emphasized how this affects his class. “You’re just behind constantly…You make do with what you have because you have no choice,” Howard said.
Elizabeth Albright works as the chair of the psychology department and as an assistant professor while having worked at Langston for 6 years. Albright likes the new process of ordering books because it is all online through a program called Canvas Course Shells, unlike the old process where there was a paper form to turn in.
Albright suggested a few things that could prevent problems with book issues that students and instructors may have. “I suggest that each department have a liaison… someone who is tech savvy with textbook software who can be the main communicator between bookstore and instructors or students,” Albright said. Additionally, she suggested that instructors of online courses meet one-on-one with students at the start of the semester to go through any issues that may arise with accessing their online textbook. Albright said, “good communication” is crucial between the bookstore manager, instructor, and publisher to quickly resolve problems.
When books are not accessible, Albright feels that students “should get a partial refund of that book charge.” Back in fall 2022, Albright had to issue incompletes to a third of her class because those students could not obtain books needed for the course. “In order to be equitable, I had to create some alternative assignments.”
The bookstore is located next to Tevin’s restaurant, at 401 West Hale, Suite E Langston, OK 73050. The hours are listed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Krystal Butler is a junior broadcast journalism major
