Cypress native launches book exchange for college students

A Cypress native recently launched Houston Book Exchange, a website on which area college
students can buy and sell used books for their classes.

Emely Galvez, who is about to graduate from the University of Houston, got
the site up and running on Nov. 30. She says about 80 students from around
the area have registered with the site so far.

Galvez hopes the site will be a better deal for students than selling their
books back to campus bookstores. She says she also wants to give area
students one central source for buying and selling books, rather than
leaving them to scour multiple web sources and bookstores.

"You can save more money when you buy the books, and you can make more money
when you're selling books," Galvez says.

She expects business to pick up at the end of this week and early next week,
as students finish up their exams and begin unloading books from completed
courses, then start looking for next semester's books. "I don't just buy my
books way ahead of time," she says. "I usually wait until I need them."

Galvez will be working full-time for an oil-and-gas company after
graduating, but plans to keep running the Exchange on the side. The site is
also offering a $300 "books scholarship." Students can get information on
applying for the scholarship here.