Courtney Stratton, student and bookseller at LSUS's Bookstore holds up an ebook.

In Louisiana it has been observed that students are only now starting to slowly come around to the idea of  e-textbooks. Doesn’t seem like it should be so. But the Shreveport Times reports, “When it comes to buying college textbooks, students have options — new, used or digital. But for a generation of college students who grew up with wireless Internet, iPods and apps, digital textbooks are slow to catch on.”

“They still want that hardcover book,” says Brenda Bartlebaugh, manager of the Louisiana State University Shreveport bookstore .

For the past year, LSUS’s bookstore has given students the option to purchase digital textbooks. But sales have been slow. According to the Times, “In fall 2009, one e-book was sold. This fall, only two have been sold.”

Meanwhile Centenary, a private college, started offering digital books this semester. Officials there said no digital textbooks were sold.

The National Association of College Stores conducted a survey in October, asking 627 students about their  usage of electronic books. Only 12.6 percent of the students had purchased an electronic book in the past three months.

According to the Times, other findings included: Six out of 10 students purchased an e-book because it was required for class. And of those surveyed 73.5 percent prefer printed text books.

“We don’t see a demand here where we absolutely have to do it,” LSUS’s Bartlebaugh says, “students prefer something more tactile.”

Another possible reason is that students can’t sell back a digital book. And given how expensive textbooks are, that is a genuine incentive.

But, the Times goes on to report, “students are slowly beginning to consider digital textbooks, but that’s likely because of the price. For example, a book most freshmen at LSUS have to buy costs about $120 new, about $64 used and about $52 for the digital book.”

Of course, students have to invest that savings into an e-book device of some kind….