When it comes to local bookstores, students have three options.

University Bookstore

The University Bookstore is on the first floor of the Student Center.

Unlike at the other two stores, students pick books off the shelves themselves.

The bookstore is required to stock all required and recommended textbooks, manager Curtis Lamb said in an e-mail.

Students can find out which books they need by visiting the store’s Web site: http://kent.bkstr.com.

Lamb said it helps when students provide the right course information to ensure they get the right books.

For a full refund, textbooks have to be returned within seven days. Also, the store buys books back at 50 percent of the price if they are needed for the next semester and if the store doesn’t have too many in stock. Some books that are not needed can also be sold back for between 10 and 30 percent of the original price.

DuBois Bookstore

DuBois Bookstore is at 332 S. Lincoln St. Lisa DuBois’s family has been in the business since 1936.

“We’ve got way more experience than the other two stores do,” DuBois said.

She said the store is open extended hours for orientation week and the first week of classes.

She said freshmen are given coupons for merchandise, and they get free Kent State T-shirts.

To get a full refund for textbooks, they have to be returned by Sept. 4.

She said the store will buy back most textbooks, but students will get more for textbooks that will be used again at the university.

Campus Book and Supply

Campus Book and Supply is at the corner of Main and South Lincoln streets.

Sales associate Jen Franzen said what makes the store stand out is its large amount of Greek merchandise. She said the store even makes custom Greek shirts.

Franzen said the store offers customers a discount card, which can also be used at at local merchants.

She said the store will almost always buy books back if the university is still using them, and students have a week after the semester starts to return books for a full refund.

Contact principal reporter Kiera Manion-Fischer at [email protected].

Students discuss drawbacks, benefits of local bookstores Students have their fair share of choices when it comes to selling and purchasing textbooks. Some shared their experiences. Curtis Tate, senior music major, said he would rather not buy his books at the University Bookstore if he can help it because of the expense. As a music major, many of the materials he needs for aren’t books but musical scores or recordings, and sometimes he can’t find them at DuBois or Campus Book and Supply, so he uses the bookstore as a last resort. Tate tries DuBois Books first and then Campus Book and Supply because they are cheaper than the University Bookstore, he said. Elizabeth Smith, junior psychology major, agrees that the University Bookstore is expensive. “I don’t like the fact that I have to find my own book,” she said. “At DuBois they give them to you.” However, she’ll sell them back at the University Bookstore or DuBois. She usually buys her textbooks online or at DuBois. Online, she only shops at Half.com. “I’ve gotten books there for $13 that were $100 at the bookstore,” she said. Tate uses Amazon.com. “I’ll also sell books a lot of times (online) when local bookstores won’t buy them back,” he said. Amanda MacLean, senior human development and family studies major, said she gets her books at DuBois, too. “They’re really nice there and friendlier,” she said. “There also seems to be less of a line-up.” – Kiera Manion-Fischer