[kache_]

>since they're told to buy almost all the books they need for each class anyway

I was successful in not buying a single book throughout all of university - and it wasn't because I used the library. Everything you need is out there. Note: I didn't buy a single book because I could not afford it

[black_puppydog]

Not sure how this is now, but Germany 10 years ago my professors would either give out lecture notes (reproduced at printing cost locally and/or as pdf) or choose books that the library had.

In one case, a professor used a book he had written for a programming/algorithms course. "I'll make sure the library gets a bunch of those before the first homeworks are due." And sure enough, they had enough for everyone in class.

Fix your education system. Seriously, it's embarassing.

[lukejduncan]

I found that I could buy books for the semester on Amazon used and sell them back to the school bookstore at a profit pretty consistently.

[hellcow]

Then professors started assigning digital homework which you could only access with new books for $200+.