Bookstore announces textbook rental deal

The IU Bookstore announced Monday it will lower all new textbook prices and offer a textbook rental option to students on all IU campuses beginning next fall.

An updated agreement with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, which manages the 10 campus bookstores operated by IU, will allow students to rent the most popular text book titles at 53 percent below the new textbook price, IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said.

“The hope is that our students will save more than $4 million next year,” MacIntyre said.

The new agreement also states the IU Bookstore will move toward greater use of e-books and online materials and will make $2.2 million in capital improvements to its Bloomington locations by fall 2011.

“Renting a textbook as opposed to buying one has many advantages, particularly for texts that are in their last year of circulation or are brand new, making them impossible to find on the used market,” Abbey Stemler, the IU student trustee, said in an IU press release.

Other student leaders are tackling the issue of textbook costs from other angles.
Previous IU Student Association administrations have focused on textbook cost as part of their platform initiatives. The 2009-2010 Btown administration included “Books” as one of the “Five B’s” on their election platform.

The “Books” initiative focused on creating a tax-free textbook holiday for students. However, it eventually became clear that IUSA would not receive state support for this initiative, and this idea was essentially abandoned.

iUnity administration president and junior Michael Coleman said he wants to work to find other alternatives to help students combat textbook costs. Coleman explained that he supports the new textbook rental program and overall lowered costs, but wants to do more.

“It’s progress, but it’s not the finished solution to the program,” Coleman said.

Coleman said the iUnity administration is exploring the idea of bursar billing for textbooks.

Students at all levels face problems when ordering textbooks, Coleman said. He offered a few common problems as examples.

Graduate students may receive stipends after they are required to purchase textbooks, Coleman said, and undergraduates may be required to purchase books during the first week of classes. Coleman said a bursar billing option would offer a solution to both problems.

“We think that would really help out all students,” Coleman said.