Kent State University Bookstore has implemented a new program for this fall semester that allows students to rent textbooks. Assortments of books are available for rent per semester at a low cost- some as low as fifty percent off the price of a new book.

The books that are offered to rent are recent edition books with widespread popularity. Mike Margardt, the manager of Kent State University Bookstore, said, “Only one-third of books are rentable.”

There is no limit of how many books can be rented per semester. This semester is a trial run for rentable books at Kent to see if it will be successful at Kent State University Bookstore and bring in more customers.

Margardt also said, “ We [University Bookstore] experimented in 20 stores last year, and it was very successful so Kent adopted the program.”

University Bookstore is the only store on campus that is offering rentable books through Follett. There is a fee that is charged to the book renter’s credit card if the book is not returned by the date specified on the receipt.

Rentable books may be returned with writing and highlighting as long as the book is salvageable with no spine damage, according to the terms and condition on the e-Follett web site.

Now students have more variety when it comes to book expense. Kate Cunningham, a junior nursing major, said she was able to spend more time looking into rental books because she lives near campus. She was able to find one out of four books.

“I rented my book for my Human Evolution class and saved 80 dollars,” she said.

She also said that she purchased the majority of her books online, “I got the rest of them at Borders Marketplace online and there I saved a few hundred dollars.”

Student book shopping selections vary from online to campus stores.

Jamie Johnson, a junior psychology major, said that buying books online is the best for her because she lives over an hour away. Johnson also said that it was inconvenient that there is a limited amount of books for rent. She prefers to purchase books so she can choose to keep them for future use or sell them back if they are not needed.

“I buy used books online because it’s convenient, cheap and I can keep my books. With renting books, I have to return them.”

Contact Maura Zurick at [email protected].