Thousands in debt from books

wtf man.. back when I was studying, we mostly borrowed necessary books from library, sometimes copied them so we could keep them forever.
No libraries + copy machines in your place?
Libraries only have 1 or 2 of each textbook for a reason. And you won't get one at test time. 10 cents a page can add up.
I knew a few people that would buy the book, go to a shady copy place, and they would copy the book for them and the return the original. I hear they would paying 40-ish or something.
You best bet to do it cheaply is to find a buddy in the class and share a book.