The pre-Thanksgiving rush is here, and students aren't the only ones bogged down with work.

As professors prepare for next semester's classes, part of that responsibility is submitting book lists to bookstores so students know which books to buy.

The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments is sending a letter to student groups, administrators and faculty promoting the sale and buy-back of used books at the Penn State Bookstore. The letter is being endorsed by the Undergraduate Student Government Academic Assembly. We are glad these organizations are trying to help students with textbook buying and selling, because the issue of timely book requests to bookstores is one that affects all students.

Penn State Bookstore Assistant Manager Tom Fankhouse said faculty could be more diligent in returning book requests -- about 65 percent of the expected book requests for the spring semester are turned in. Faculty should realize the importance of early requests, because it can help students. First, students can get more money for book buy-backs if the lists are in on time. Plus, once they know which books are required in spring courses, they can look for the cheapest books.

It's understood that professors are juggling responsibilities, and that planning syllabi months in advance may not prove to be the easiest task. But asking for a book list should not be that daunting, especially when it will benefit students.

Also, some course syllabi do not change from semester to semester. These professors could post the book list on their Web sites if they know this to be the case.

Many professors use coursepacks, which can be a cheaper option than buying separate books, only to read a small portion of each. An easier option could be putting these readings online through the ANGEL system -- many professors do this with supplements to coursepacks, so why not do this for an entire coursepack?

It lets them choose if they want to print out the document instead of reading it online.

The student government bodies should take this letter-writing campaign a step further and ask the administration to take a harder stance on professors who do not turn in their book lists on time. If the current pressure from administrators isn't enough, maybe more steps should be taken to show professors that this is an important concern for students.