Cover charges

Re “Online, a free challenge to pricey college texts,” Aug. 18

Bruce Hildebrand of the Assn. of American Publishers is not quite forthcoming when he attributes the high cost of textbooks to college professors. In fact, publishers pressure authors to needlessly update their volumes so that there is a constant supply of new product on the bookshelves.

Case in point: My daughter took a college art history course this summer. Her $150 textbook was the third edition, published in 2008. Its original publication date? 2005.

Patricia Rivard

Santa Ana