Back-to-grade-school meant some mixture of dread and anticipation. Fall leaves and a new pencil case brought excitement; the fear of facing a new teacher or the perils of being a “minor niner” brought a gnawing dread.

University students face a different peril, one that shows no signs of dissipating.

According to the Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials — amusingly abbreviated as CRAM — textbook costs rose over 280 per cent between 1995 and 2007. Constant, often minor revisions to editions keep a constant demand, as professors search for the most up-to-date texts. Students are left exploring alternatives but face the threat that a second-hand text won’t include new and relevant information. Many students are forgoing used bookstores in favour of rental services.

Many assume the easiest way to get the relevant research from a textbook is to make a photocopy, yet a U of T document on copyright for professors dispels this belief, suggesting that “it is a common misconception that the latitude given by copyright law for educational uses is significant.”

Despite the law, many students (and even some professors) chose to photocopy passages. Some local copying centres turn a blind eye; if they get caught violating the copyright act, they’ll often stop the practice for a few years and then begin once the coast seems clear.

But legal alternatives, such as the variety of online textbook-renting sites, exist. Even the U of T Bookstore has begun renting out textbooks for semesters, provided they are returned in acceptable condition. Students can even highlight and mark-up a rented copy.

Cities of the World: World Regional Development in its fourth edition costs $94.95 new and $77.56 used through amazon.ca. Despite the site’s stellar reputation and quick shipping times, using campus textbook-renting networks might be easier. At the U of T Bookstore, renting the same book costs $53.50 new and $33.85 used before tax. Keeping the book for the term and getting the valuable information may be all you need, and could save you money.

Even greater discounts are available from Toronto University Students’ Book Exchange (tusbe.com), a Craigslist-type site. Cities of the World is advertised for between $60 and $80. The site is easy to use, though some might view it as merely the online version of the flyers that appear each September around campus. The service also includes all the other Toronto-area universities, which helps increase supply.

The University of Toronto Students’ Union is now also offering an online book exchange, but it first requires creating a Canadian Federation of Students Services account. One Facebook posting questioned the site’s usefulness. “How is this different/better than TUSBE? Won’t it just split the traffic between the two sites?”

The service is only available to full-time students at St. George and Mississauga campus. Students pick up and drop off books during UTSU’s office hours and sellers receive a cheque from UTSU for the negotiated amount.

With all of these different options floating around, students still need to consider convenience. First-years may choose buy directly from the bookstore, with their parents coming to town to purchase all the year’s texts on a travel or rewards credit card. While rental services are a cheaper option, the hassle of arranging a meeting time over email or Facebook, not being able to record notes and having to arrange a return meeting with a stranger can seem daunting.

Those with more guts than ethics could peruse copy shops. At 680 pages, our book would cost roughly $34 to photocopy at the normal 5-cent per page rate. But getting caught can mean expensive lawsuits for customers and shop owners. At the moment, only those making a profit from photocopying textbooks can be criminally prosecuted under the Canadian Copyright Act, though this is likely to change under new legislation.

Of course, the option always exists to buy a textbook and try to sell it back to the bookstore at the end of term. And it should be noted that the Cities of the World text has a new edition out, one not on U of T syllabi — yet. The high cost of textbooks shows no signs of relief any time soon.

This online article incorrectly stated that U of T Bookstore only rents textbooks that cannot be highlighted or marked up. The error was corrected within a few hours.