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Read all about it: students can access their academic textbooks online rather than lugging around heavy tomes
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Savvy freshers are turning to online libraries for their learning needs – saving money, space, time and the planet, while tapping into a bigger selection of digital books and resources
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Closing the chapter:
tudents starting university degrees this year are
grappling with a tougher set of challenges than those who came before them. Heavy tuition fees, together with rising accommodation and living costs, have added to their burden at a time when many are already worrying about what sort of jobs market will be waiting for them when they finish studying.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Today’s freshers at least have one distinct advantage over their older brothers and sisters. The way they’ve grown up managing their leisure activities – streaming and renting the things they need rather than buying them outright – has already taught them a valuable lesson in how they can make savings if they adopt a similar approach when it comes to learning.
“Modern students subscribe to streaming services for their music, films and favourite TV shows, so why not do the same with their academic textbooks?” asks Gauthier Van Malderen, CEO of Perlego, an online academic library that offers virtually every textbook you might need, often for less than the price of physically buying one.
His service already boasts 700,000 e-books on every subject from aviation to zoology by all the top academic publishers. That figure is expected to hit the million mark in the next year.
The price of textbooks is one of the hidden costs of studying – and something students rarely consider when planning their budgets. But they must as the costs are spiralling at a pace.
“Textbook prices have increased by more than 800 per cent since 1978,” says Van Malderen. That’s more than three times the rate of inflation. Research shows that on average UK students currently spend more than £400 a year on books, but a subscription to Perlego’s entire catalogue can cost £12 a month.
In fact, Van Malderen is so sure that what Perlego is offering is a bargain, he is allowing students a two-week free trial to test out the service for themselves before signing up.
Perlego’s pricing and the free trial will be invaluable to students fretting about money – especially as financial concerns are a factor in whether students engage in their course, or even remain on it.
Quick thinking: Gauthier Van Malderen, CEO of Perlego
students swap physical
textbooks for e-books
Textbook prices have increased by more
than 800 per cent since 1978
For while universities continue to draw in increasing numbers of students every academic year, this success disguises a worrying trend: the dropout rate is also increasing.
“What’s really interesting about the statistics is that 25 per cent of students drop out of their first year because they’re worried they won’t be successful in getting their degrees,” says Van Malderen. “We found a direct correlation between those who felt engaged in their courses and those that completed them.”
One key area stopping students feeling engaged was a concern about being able to afford and access all the core materials they needed for their studies, especially in an era when Covid led to many libraries closing their doors.
As well as attractive pricing, Perlego’s solution has been to put all academic books in one easy to find place – taking away one obstacle to study, and a cause of stress for students.
Van Malderen adds: “By removing the stress of not knowing what content you need to find or where to locate it, you can drive more engagement. This drives a higher success rate in exams, which in turn keeps students more engaged in completing their courses.”
Green credentials
With many students finding textbooks expensive, Van Malderen knows he’s preaching to the converted where pricing is concerned. But it’s not the only issue uppermost in his mind. There’s also the matter of sustainability, which is now uppermost in all our minds.
Digital publishing services have an obvious built-in advantage over those that print on paper. They cut out the need for felling trees and the resources needed to distribute physical books into shops, colleges and libraries. In Perlego’s case, this sustainable approach saves up to 130 acres of forest a year – the equivalent of 72 football pitches.
“I like how Perlego makes everything so easy,” says Sophie, who is studying for an MSc in international social and public policy at the London School of Economics.
Sophie, 25, was ahead of the curve in discovering the benefits of Perlego. She spotted an online advert, signed up for a free trial and was hooked.
“I joined before I started my course, so I looked at books that gave me an intro into the subject. I also used the suggestions Perlego makes for the top books because I read a lot of non-fiction too.”
Top marks
Living on the outskirts of London and commuting into university, she found being able to access the online library
on her phone while travelling really handy. “I really liked how portable it made everything.”
Her subscription came into its own when she was preparing for seminars.
“There’s required reading for seminars and if you haven’t done it, you don’t enjoy them because you can’t get involved. Plus, you don’t want to look a fool in front of other students by not being fully prepared. That’s a big motivator,” she adds.
Being able to read anywhere helps to counter boredom – one of her biggest study challenges.
“I do struggle with it,” she admits, saying lockdown made things worse as she couldn’t escape to her favourite café or the college library. Perlego allowed her to easily read anywhere on her laptop or on the app on her phone.
“I’d start in my study and then go down to the living room, then move to the dining room table,” she adds. “I needed variety. It was what got me through.”
Perlego’s eco-friendly library also offers a wide range of general non-fiction titles as, of course, there’s more to student life than focusing purely on your chosen subject.
“We’re trying to extend our market. But only in academic areas. You’ll never find Fifty Shades of Grey on Perlego,” Van Malderen jokes. “But you will find great recipe books. We know lots of students look for a study textbook in the daytime, and then for something that will tell them how to make a great curry in the evening. So, we’re helping them with that too.”
All of The Times for less than 8p a day
Prepare for university with a digital subscription to The Times and The Sunday Times, and also enjoy six months free access to Perlego’s online library of academic resources and tools, trusted by students worldwide. Subscribe today at thetimes.co.uk/student
In the know: Perlego offers virtually every textbook you might need
