Anna Schwulst/The Falcon ASSP offers an online book exchange for students to buy and sell used textbooks at reduced rates.

So, you put down 150 bucks for that textbook you needed for all of one quarter and that quarter is finally over. Now what? The logical solution would be to resell it, of course! Unfortunately, selling to the SPU Bookstore will get you back only a fraction of what you spent in the first place. So, what's a scrimping college student to do?

ASSP has a solution to cut the bucks: an online book exchange program that allows students to sell old books for a better rate and buy used books for good prices, as well.

Started in 1998 by alumni Lowell List, the exchange began as a small-scale Web site, enabling students to post listings of their used books for other students to browse and buy. The hope was that, when they set their prices, students would be able to sell for more and get more than they would have at the SPU Bookstore.

The site started as an unofficial undertaking but has, over time, grown into the ASSP-run program it is today.

Over the last three years, the system was rebuilt with aims to "improve performance, aid usability, improve security and clear away the clutter of old books," according to the Book Exchange section of ASSP's Web site. The old books were cleared out, posts that had been up for years taken down and the whole site made more efficient, easier to navigate and glitch-free, junior and ASSP Executive Vice President Andrew Huskamp said.

Junior John Driftmier is this year's ASSP Publicist and Webmaster, and he will be maintaining the Web site. He has already cleared up problems students faced trying to log on at the beginning of the quarter, Huskamp said.

The result? A user-friendly resource that allows students to browse for great deals from the comfort of their dorm room.

The process is simple: create an account on the Book Exchange Web site by entering your SPU e-mail address, student ID and general information and you're good to go.

Selling books is just as easy. Log on and simply enter the information of the book you want to sell and your contact details and wait for responses.

Many have inquired about the system, and there is a high level of interest in the program, senior and ASSP Public Relations Manager Ashlee Pottenger said.

Huskamp, however, after doing a "door-to-door" awareness campaign around campus telling students about the ASSP resources available to them, claims that not many knew about it, but after hearing about it responded with enthusiasm.

Alumna Melissa Peda used the system numerous times during her years at SPU. When the books she was looking for were posted on the site they were of good quality, were cheap and her sources made themselves very open to e-mails, questions and problems, she said.

Sophomore Rachel Krebs said that, as good as the system is, the reliability of sellers is sometimes fickle. She suggested users "don't try and get a book the week you need it"--you might be sitting in class bookless for a while before sellers get back to you on a particular exchange.

Sophomore Justin Rusk, who works in the SPU Bookstore, recommends using the ASSP Book Exchange. He said it took him multiple e-mails to finally get a response on a book he was trying to purchase and that there are still a considerable amount of older listings on the book exchange site that need to be taken down. However, if students are willing to put some time and effort in to it, he said, the exchange is a good, economical option.

If you want to give your wallet a breather or fatten it up a little, consider the ASSP Book Exchange program at http://spu.edu/depts/assp/resources/bookexchange/index.asp.