The Murray State News

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: News

Even though textbook rental programs can save college students anywhere from $400 to $800 a year, many universities still only offer textbooks for purchase, Southeast Missouri State University bookstore Assistant Manager Laurie Taylor said.

Jack Vaughn, director of the University Bookstore at Murray State, said many factors contribute to the fact that the bookstore does not offer textbook rentals.

"It would literally cost millions of dollars to start a rental program," he said. "On top of that, new editions come out every two to three years and professors change their required texts. Very few schools use a rental system - that should tell you something."

According to the National Association of College Stores, in 2006 "textbook rental services were offered only by 1.8 percent of NACS member stores in the U.S and Canada."

SEMO is one school that has always had a textbook rental program, Taylor said, and it's not suited for every university.

"We advertise it as a scholarship for every student," she said. "Instead of spending $600-$1,000 a year on books, our students average around $185."

According to the SEMO Web site, the textbook rental program charges $18.33 per course, no matter how many books are required for that course.

Tony Cardon, sophomore from Hardinsburg, Ky., said that he would love to see a similar textbook rental service at Murray State.

"Textbook rentals at MSU would be amazing," he said. "I mean, I keep my textbooks for my major, but it would be nice to be able to just rent books for classes that don't matter for my major. I'm never going to need this $150 Chemistry 101 book ever again."

A study by the California Public Research Interest Group, CALPRIG, found the problem of skyrocketing textbook prices is not the fault of college stores, but of publishers.

CALPRIG's study, "Ripoff 101", found that textbook inflation is a major problem in the U.S. The study found that the wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers have grown 62 percent since 1994, while prices charged for their finished goods only grew 14 percent.

The study also found that "bundled" textbooks, including books with CD's and study guides, included over half of all required textbooks and cost 10 percent more than single books.

Also, over two-thirds of all faculty surveyed said they rarely or never used the extra materials.

Murray State has tried to help appease some of this financial strain by seeking out as many used books as they can, Vaughn said.

"We are a very large used book buyer on the national market," he said. "We use seven used book sale services to find as many used books as we can possibly find."

Textbook rentals, however, are not completely off the table at Murray State, Vaughn said.

"As time goes along the students need and want change, so we change with them," he said.

"If Murray State wants to do it, I think I can handle it. It's all about rolling with the changes.

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