When senior English major Katie Thatcher spent more than $300 on textbooks last semester, she expected to get her money’s worth.

Instead, she barely used some of her books, while others had virtually no resale value at the end of the year.

“[Prices] are way too high,” Thatcher said. “They won’t even take [books] back sometimes, even new books.”

Now Thatcher and other NIU students have a chance to rate their textbooks via an online survey provided by the University Bookstore.

The survey is intended to gather information about textbook use and value and relay that information to professors, said Mitch Kielb, associate director of the University Bookstore.

Survey questions include the number of required books per class, how often they were used and how helpful they were to the particular course.

Professors can use the information to determine textbook selections for future courses, Kielb said.

“This is an opportunity for students to rate the effectiveness and educational value of the materials they are required to buy,” he said.

Kielb said the bookstore already has received about 50 answered surveys.

“It’s a good idea,” Thatcher said. “Maybe [then] instructors would give more importance to their books.”

The survey comes days after Gov. Rod Blagojevich called for an investigation by the Illinois

Higher Board of Education into rising textbook prices.

To take the University Bookstore survey, visit www.niu.edu/bookstore/forms/rate.html.