Area colleges to offer textbook rentals

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jessica Harding

Students at local colleges and universities can expect to realize some savings while purchasing their books this fall thanks to a new rental program at campus bookstores.

The University at Albany and The College of Saint Rose have already committed to trying a rental textbook program.

Students will be able to rent selected textbooks at 50 percent of the book’s price. Students can mark up and highlight in the books as usual, and return them at the end of the semester.

Follett, an Illinois-based company that runs hundred of campus bookstores throughout the United States, including at Saint Rose and Siena College, piloted its Rent-a-Text program this fall in seven campus bookstores. In one semester, students saved $2 million, according to Elio Distaola, director of campus relations for Follett.

In January, Follett expanded the program to include 27 bookstores and has signed up nearly 500 stores for fall. Currently, Siena isn’t enrolled in the program, but Distaola said colleges and universities can enroll up until the beginning of the semester.

UAlbany announced Thursday that Barnes & Noble would continue to run the college’s campus bookstore and would also include its rental program at the store.

Students who rent books from the bookstore are assured that they have the right book for their class, they are able to easily return the book if they decide to drop the class, and they don’t have to wait for the book to arrive through the mail.

Stacy Berkins, a sociology major at UAlbany graduating this year, said she would only rent books if they were less than she could get them for online. However, she said that for some books that are unavailable through Amazon, she would certainly rather rent for half the cost.

Berkins said the most she has ever spent on a textbook was $100. “If my textbook costs more than $100, I’m usually not going to buy that book,” she said.

Michael Blaustein, a sophomore double major in political science and criminal justice, said he spends between $300 and $400 per semester on books. He thinks a program to rent them would be beneficial.

“Any way students can save on their education is good.”

Blaustein said he purchases most of his books from the campus bookstore because he finds that ordering books from Amazon doesn’t save much money when shipping costs are factored in, and there is no waiting and hoping the books arrive on time.

The bookstore at Skidmore College is working on a plan to allow students to rent textbooks, according to associate director Dawn Greenlaw. The Skidmore Shop is independently owned by the college, so it doesn’t have the backing of a larger corporation such as Barnes & Noble.

“It’s another avenue that we can take to help students find more affordable books,” Greenlaw said about the rental program. “Every route we take is better for the students and better for the college.”

Distaola said the push for renting textbooks comes from the federal Higher Education Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008, which targeted ways to reduce costs to students. As a partner of higher learning institutions, Distaola said Rent-a-Text is their way of finding ways to reduce costs.

The program does have a financial implication for the company. Since textbooks are essentially sold at half price and returned, the company only makes money if the books are reused several times. Distaola said Follett invested $120 million to get the program going.

“That’s how passionate we are about the process.”