The beginning of a semester is full of new classes, new professors and, of course, new textbooks. However, buying new textbooks is the bane of most Conn students’ existences. This semester, there is an alternative to buying textbooks. The REAL Office and the Office of Sustainability have partnered to create the CC Lending Library.
The Lending Library is run by Laurel Wolf ’14 and Laura Simmons-Stern ’14, who are both fellows at the Office of Sustainability.
“The idea came from Frida Rodriguez, a staff member in the REAL Office, who was inspired by a similar program at her alma mater. She approached Josh Stoffel, who approached us, and we took it on,” said Wolf. “We thought it was a great idea because it is really inconvenient to have to buy new editions every year, and textbooks are really expensive.” Stoffel, the Sustainability Manager at Conn, agreed, adding that this project exemplifies the ideal holistic sustainability project.
“The Lending Library fits into the three spheres of sustainability: economic, social, environmental,” said Stoffel. “Economic, because it is saving money for students, and it lessens the feeding of the corrupt industry of textbooks. Social, because it is helping students who are limited financially when it comes to buying the bigger textbooks, so especially in science and math classes. Environmentally, because it limits the need to buy new textbooks, which is good for the environment and reduces the waste of printing and shipping.”
In addition to benefitting students in classes, the Lending Library can also be a resource for thesis writers who need background information only found in textbooks that the library either doesn’t have or will only lend out for two weeks at a time.
“This is also great for students who buy books for their non-major classes,” commented Simmons-Stern. “They have these textbooks they’ll never use again, and now an underclassmen will be able to use them for free.”
The Lending Library is located in a little-known place on campus, a closet-like space in the lobby of Katherine Blunt Dorm. Its two shelves are overflowing with books gathered from the grab-and-go program put in place last school year. Wolf and Simmons-Stern plan on bringing in more books and adding more shelves.
“Some of the books aren’t being reused or are editions that professors won’t use,” said Wolf. “But we’re hoping to sell some on Amazon or donate them to an overseas literary program, and the revenue from that will be used to buy more common textbooks for biology or chemistry.”
One of the most exciting things about the project is that it can involve more people on campus with sustainability. Stoffel remarked, “It engages those who already know about sustainability, and can draw in those who haven’t been as involved, but unites them both, because everyone knows the pain of buying textbooks.”
For those interested in lending or donating to the CC Lending Library, the team can be contacted at cclendinglibrary@conncoll.edu. •
