When organizers in the CU Book Store rearranged textbooks this semester, they didn’t expect to upset students.
But many students were unhappy to learn that they had to find their textbooks based on authors’ last names, compared to past years when reading materials were organized by the courses they were used in.
A student pulls a copy of “Fundamentals of Aerodynamics” by John D. Anderson, Jr. at the UMC Book Store. This year the book store switched from being organized by course and subject to alphabetical order by author’s last name. (Robert R. Denton/CU Independent File)
Brian Groves, director of retail services at the bookstore, said the change was actually made to help students find what they are looking for. Books needed for multiple classes could be hard to find under the old system.
“The people we had trained had difficulty finding those used books, so we knew that our customers were also having difficulty finding them,” Groves said.
The change was supposed to be a win-win.
“This works for both the employees and the customers,” Groves said. “Previously, we had to look up the books to find out what course it was in so that we could put it back on the shelf. This system allows us to get the books on the shelves much quicker for the customer.”
CU freshman and mathematics major Alex Lai said he likes how the textbooks are organized.
“It’s easier to go to the author and find your books,” Lai said. “I haven’t had any trouble finding mine.”
Other freshmen and their parents didn’t complain about the new system when they visited the bookstore during orientation, but when the fall semester officially started and upperclassmen began to shop, the attitude toward the changes turned more negative, Groves said.
“And that’s when it did become apparent to me,” Groves said. “I wish we had thought about communicating this better.”
“It’s dumb that they reorganized it by last name,” said upperclassmen Alex Young, a fifth-year Japanese major. “It’s so dumb that I want to find whoever did that, find the heaviest math textbook I can find in here and beat them in the head with it.”
CU junior and accounting major David Ellis shared Young’s frustration.
“I think it’s poorly organized,” Ellis said. “I like how it’s by author, but I think it could be better.”
In addition to the reorganization of textbooks, the book store aimed to help students by installing computers that print booklist receipts.
Junior finance major Chris Miller still had difficulty finding his textbooks with the new receipt system.
“The reason I don’t like this is because when the author is not printed on here, you can’t really find where the book is,” Miller said.
Feedback like Miller’s is encouraged, Groves said, and students are recommended to approach bookstore employees for help.
“Our staffing levels this last term were appropriate for normal business,” Groves said. “I think what we didn’t anticipate was the number of questions we’re going to get from customers just based on the change.”
For the beginning of the spring semester, Groves said he plans to staff more personnel on the floor to help with student questions.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kelsey McWilliams at kelsey.mcwilliams@colorado.edu, twitter/kelsmcw.
