textbooks

Food for Thought to Discontinue Providing Textbooks

After careful consideration of the costs and benefits involved in providing books for classes at UMass, Amherst College and Hampshire College, the Food for Thought Collective has made the decision to longer provide this service starting this summer.

We appreciate the support provided by you and your students over the years (and we NEED your continued support in the future!) but recent developments in the world of ordering and selling coursebooks has prompted us to make this decision. We have seen a continual decline in the sales of coursebooks over the past few years, and another precipitous drop in those sales this Spring prompted us to take a closer look at that service and how it fits with our larger mission.

A great amount of time, effort and money are involved in processing orders; ordering, receiving, selling, and then returning unsold books. The time involved in all this has been increasing over the years, and as the sales have decreased we have come to the decision that it no longer makes sense for us to provide these books for classes. No doubt there are many factors involved in this decrease in sales, from online competition, rentals, e-reserves, etc., but the bottom line is that it no longer makes sense for us to expend our limited resources on this service, given the diminishing returns.

We Really Need Your Continued Support Now

Textbook sales have traditionally counted for 70-75% of our sales, and this continued decrease in those sales has put Food for Thought in a precarious position. As we move toward a different business model to offset these lost sales, we will need your continued support - especially as we enter the slower summer months here in Amherst. If there are other ways we can work together, please let us know - are open to your ideas and suggestions.

We would like to once again thank you for your support over the years of our providing books for your classes, and we hope you will continue telling your students about our store, as well as continuing to let us provide you with all your personal book needs.