BMC Bookshop Blog

How to read textbook lists

Your BMC Bookshop provides complete listings of all books and course materials that faculty have requested for your courses.  The lists are available on this website at bookshop.brynmawr.edu/textbooks starting four to six weeks before the start of each semester, and they are continuously updated as we receive new information.

Listings are organized by department, course and section.  Just click at each level and drill down to your section.

Once you reach your section, you'll see something that looks like this:

This example is from EMLY B001-012 (Fall 2020).  You see that there are five required books for this class.  Next to each title, we show the ISBN, the 13-digit nubmer starting with 978, for the exact edition that the professor asked us to stock.  If you're comparison shopping, please always shop by ISBN and not by title.

We show new and used prices for each of these five titles and for most all books.  This site also shows stock status.  Out of stock choices are greyed out.  (We try to stock as many inexpensive used copies as possible, but we can't ever find enough of all titles.)  If you see a zero in the price, that does not mean it's free, it means that option was not available.  Our system lets you purchase books in the store that are expected to arrive shortly.  We'll fill orders as swiftly as possible.

New this year is the notation "Available in Tripod" for titles that you can access digitally through BMC's libraries.  We offer the option of purchasing a copy for yourself, but you won't need to buy this book in order to keep up with assigned readings from these titles.

Also new this year, we are showing ebook options that you can purchase directly from our store.  We work with two ebook aggregators, Redshelf and VitalSource.  Each offers simple access to digital texts that match up with the print books your professors.  For this class, you can read Frankenstein and Romeo and Juliet on paper or on screen.  It's your choice!  Soon after you complete your transaction, you'll receive emails with instructions about how to start reading your text.  (Most messages arrive within minutes, but sometimes take as much as a few hours.)

If you have any questions about text listings or anything else about your required course materials, please contact us by email at bookshop@brynmawr.edu.  We're here to help!

Buyback FAQ

Book buyback continues at your BMC Bookshop.  In addition to the regular Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 10:00 am to 1:00 pm hours, we will offer extra hours on Friday, May 15, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.  If you can't make those times, we are also available by appointment.  Books can also be dropped off at the mailroom, and we are continuing to email prepaid shipping labels if you're no longer in the area.  Contact us by email at bookshop@brynmawr.edu to set up an appointment or request a label.

Here are answers to a few FAQ that have come up since we posted buyback info two weeks ago.

Q: I am away from campus and books are still in my room.  Can I sell them when we are allowed back on campus?

A: Probably.  We are aware of the situation and will do everything possible to extend buyback in some form to accommodate you whenever the college allows you back. As of today, we have no information about when dorms might be re-opened, but it is our intention to be available as best we can during move-out times.  The problem is buyback price.  Prices that are posted right now for current semester titles in the buyback utility (bookshop.brynmawr.edu/buyback/lookup) have expiration dates.  Books that faculty have not committed to re-using here at Bryn Mawr are sold to the higest bidder among multiple textbook brokers.  We are working with four outside vendors this semester, and are asking each to hold their bids open as long as possible.  So far, everyone is extending past the usual May 31 deadline, but to different dates.  We always have other options, but the alternative prices are not likely to be as good as the bids that we have right now.

Q: I have books from prior semesters.  Should I send/bring them to buyback now?

A: Yes! While the best buyback prices are usually for current semester titles, we are always happy to try books from previous semesters.  We partner with a textbook wholesaler, MBS, a division of Barnes & Noble College.  MBS buys over 75,000 titles for all stores it serves, so odds of getting something from these books are reasonable.  However, if you're shipping books back to us (using our prepaid label) and they come up "no value" for buyback, we won't be able to return books to you.  If you'd like to check wholesale prices before you send books, go to this link: onlinebuyback.mbsbooks.com/index.php?jde=1612 .  This site allows you to check wholesale prices, and if you have only wholesale books, you can send them directly to MBS via this site.  But if you also have current semester titles, you're likely to get more for them if you send them to us: your BMC bookshop pays more, and you can put everthing together into one shipment. (We encourage you to check prices at both links.)

Q: I can't find my receipt.  Can I still sell my books back to the BMC Bookshop?

A: Yes!  We have waived the receipt requirement for this semester, due to Covid-19.  We welcome all books, regardless of whether you have a receipt and regardless of where you purchased them.

Q: I have books for classes that I took at Haverford.  Can I sell tham back at the BMC Bookshop?

A: Yes, but you might do better at the Haverford store.  If Haverford is using the books again in a coming semester, they will likely pay more, just as we do for books that faculty have told us will be used in upcoming BMC classes.  If the title has not yet been adopted for a Haverford class, then our buyback prices are likely to be the same because Haverford also works with MBS.

If you have any additional questions, please contact us by email at bookshop@brynmawr.edu

Our original buyback post, with complete info about requesting a prepaid label is at this link: bookshop.brynmawr.edu/SP20-buyback

Get essentials without leaving campus

Fall 2019 Book Buyback Begins December 13

Last Call for Fall Textbooks!

As we hurtle towards the end of the semester, we want to remind you about some textbook policies and upcoming dates.

Many text vendors impose deadlines on book returns, which means we are starting to clear out Fall semester texts.  If there's anything that you still need to buy for this semester, please get it soon.  Today, we still have copies of over 80% of current titles -- the shelves are still pretty full -- but unless we already have a commitment from faculty to reuse them in the Spring 2020 or Fall 2020 semesters, they'll be shipped back in the next few weeks.  You can check current inventory on our website at bookshop.brynmawr.edu/college. Listings on the site will be available through November 30 only.

Book buyback dates are December 13 and December 16 through 20.  We will buy back MOST titles regardless of where you bought them from.  But we guarantee buyback on ALL current semester books with receipt.  There is a subset of titles for which we require receipt because there are quantity limitations at our buyback partners.  Because there are limits, we reserve these opportunities for folks who purchased here.  Also buyback is not limited to current semester books.  We partner with MBS, a division of Barnes & Noble, and they're looking for books for all of the campuses that B&N serves, so the buy list is usually about 100,000 titles deep.

For more info on how buyback works -- including details on how we set buyback prices -- please refer to this earlier blog entry: bookshop.brynmawr.edu/guaranteedbuyback

Spring semester book requests are coming into the bookshop now.  The list of confirmed book adoptions will be available on our website starting in mid-December.

Saturday Is Independent Bookstore Day!

Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day this Saturday, April 27, at your BMC Bookshop.  We are proud to be a part of this one-day nationwide party that recognizes the resurgance of independent stores. And we are very much a part of the movement, having shucked off chainstore management and returned to independence here just four years ago.

“Consumers control the marketplace by deciding where to spend their money. If what a bookstore offers matters to you, then shop at a bookstore. If you feel that the experience of reading a book is valuable, then read the book. This is how we change the world: we grab hold of it. We change ourselves.”

― Ann Patchett, bestselling author and co-owner of Parnassus Books

Your BMC Bookshop will be open 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, and we have some fun exclusive IBD merchandise, including:

We also have some great giveways:

Get your choice of one giveaway just for coming into the store on Saturday.  The Macmillan Collector's Library "Poems to Keep in Your Pocket" booklet is especially nice -- and don't forget that all Macmillan Collector's Library volumes are still 20% off.  Get one additional giveaway free with any book purchase -- buy one book, get one more giveaway, buy two books, get two more giveaways, buy three ... you get the idea. This includes books from our new "Good Books Cheap!" cart, where you'll find some great used and new books for as little as $2.00:

Exclusive merchandise and giveaways are in limited quantities -- some very limited.  Come in early on Saturday!  Don't miss out!