I just ordered my girl's school books for next year.
Remember my whining every goddamned year about the exorbitant costs at the beginning of a school year?
Not today
.
Finally, finally, the government of my federal state did something good. Instead of buying, you can now lend the books from the state - for 1/3 of the price. The state lends every book three times, so it doesn't cost them a thing, except for the administrative efforts.
Instead of 460 Euros (580$), I have to pay 190 Euros (240$). That's more than one third, because you can't lend the workbooks, where the pupils write into. For those, you have to pay the full price.
Of course I still have to pay for all other costs (bus tickets!), and Oliver's books. The book lending is not (yet) available for elementary schools.
But I save 270 Euros (340$) on book costs this year. Yay!