University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

UUS BX Requests Help

The UUS Book and Record
Exchange (henceforth called
BX) wishes to remind everyone
that we will again be open for
the first three weeks of next
semester in the basement of
Newcomb Hall. In case you are
ignorant about the BX, its ideal
is to enable students to sell
used textbooks to other
students without the
middleman.

In the process, we also deal
with non-texts and records.
You are probably saying this is
too good to be true. You are
right. There are many problems
between the BX and its ideal.

Some of the problems are
beyond our control. One of
these is the large number of
texts which are changed each
year. Another is that the BX is,
unfortunately, a middleman.
We do, however, have the
advantage of being a very small
middleman. Our only expenses
are for things like the printing
of forms that we use. (Our
workers are strictly
volunteers.) Thus we charge 10
cents for any book or record
which is sold for $1 or more.

Other problems are being
solved by pure luck. Mr.
Herring has been allowing us to
use the basement of Newcomb
Hall until they start work on
renovating it. Fortunately for
us this work has been delayed
several times. Any ideas for
places to locate the BX or
places to store the books
between sales will be very
welcome.

Some problems will be
solved by making our
operation more efficient and
altering the terms and
conditions which each seller
agrees to when he leaves a
book or record with us. The
main change will be that any
item left with us for more than
three full semesters becomes
the property of the BX. We
hope that this will reduce the
number of books we must
store with no real hope of ever
selling them.

One problem can only be
solved by you. We desperately
need volunteer workers if we
are to continue operating. Even
if you only have an hour
between classes, your help
would be valuable.

If you think you can help,
contact Richard Watkins at
340 Holmes Dormitory or
leave your name at the
Charlottesville Tenants
Association or CDR lit tables
on the 2nd floor of Newcomb
Hall during lunch hours each
weekday.

The BX hopes to see you
next semester.