Textbook Dilemma
By: Arielle
Seven weeks in and I had to track some textbooks down. It’s not something I would like to do, but I have no choice. At the end of the day although there is an office in place to do all this for me, it’s still my responsibility. I was missing six of them. I’ve read two already and was never provided an alternative format and it was not due to the last minute registration. Surprise, surprise. One of the books I got the last day for the assigned reading. It was complete a human error and not on my part. For some really bizarre reason, that I cannot wrap my head around, alt text department believed that my textbooks was readings online. And it translated to “we cannot find your books through eLC (learning management system) therefore you’ll have to do it on your own”. No, my books are print books that I paid for before the first week of classes started. There was also a point where it sounded like they assumed they had to reorder books and remake alternative versions when they already had them and just never gave them to me. It made my Tuesday morning very stressful… I actually couldn’t use their system to submit book requests so I had to do it view email instead. So lost books! I had to make the decision to either complain or go and scan my books myself. So I spent a good 30 minutes in front of the OCR scanner making my work accessible so I can do my readings on time because the real world clock was ticking. I was also told that there is a librarian on campus who could do the scanning for me, but at this point I think it’s easier to spend the time and do it myself since it’s very last minute…. At this point in my life, I think I have come to accept the fact that no matter where I go, no matter how good an office is, and no matter how many laws that protect me; there will always be screw ups. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but at the end of the day it’s my stuff and if that means I have to accommodate myself than I just have to hunker down and do it. Advocacy is important and I am not suggesting that I should just let this slide. I would complain, but it seems that the office is going through some growing pains at that moment. The director is leaving this month, so I think the best thing for me to do is start preparing for the spring semester and look ahead instead of worry about this hiccup.