Saving students money

 Saving students money

The lines stretch for miles, the wait seems endless and patience seems wavering. During the first week of each term, the Linn-BentonCommunity College Bookstore is always abundant with loud chatter and people everywhere. Students are all in line waiting to buy books and supplies for their upcoming classes. There is always help in the bookstore for students looking for books or classroom requirements.

Kayleen Justensen, a junior at LBCC, has been going to the bookstore to buy books for about three years. She talks about her process of buying books from the store.

“Typically, I print off my schedule and take it in to the bookstore and the helpful staff help me find my books.” said Justensen.

However, some students pay for books out of pocket or with financial aid, which in some cases can be difficult considering some of the book costs. Workbooks and textbooks can range from a couple to a couple hundred dollars depending on the class and the textbook.

“They change a few pages and make new editions causing the price to rise or making it hard or impossible to find online,” said Laniesse Sherman, a new student to the LBCC campus, “they also charge a huge price for an online code where you don't even get anything out of it because it is a one time use.”

The first week of a new term at the bookstore always seems the most tedious. The waiting line seems to stretch forever with students waiting to buy books. There is comfortable music being played, and you are able to stand with friends and chat, but the wait is not for everyone.

A couple students had a few ideas of how to make the bookstore line move a little faster and smoother.

“I think they should let more than just two people in a time, or just make a bigger bookstore,” said Angie Erickson-Witwicky, an attending junior at LBCC.

“Perhaps they should open a second bookstore,” said Justensen.

According to Lawrence LaJoie, the LBCC bookstore manager, the bookstore has been working hard to accommodate the needs of students dealing with prices of books and ways to save money. They are proud to announce that for Fall term, they saved the students $138,747 through 2 major initiatives:

1) Their aggressive 5% off for everybody and 10% off when they texted in LBCC to their unique number. Approximately 3,400 students took advantage of the texting discount. The discount was good on almost everything in the store, including textbooks. This saved the students over $89,000 on their course materials, supplies and more.

2) They rigorously expanded their textbook rental offerings from 25 titles last year to almost 100 titles this year. They rented over 1300 books this term, saving the students over $49,000 versus buying the books.

The employees worked hard to provide the best service possible to our students, to give them a great start to the new academic year. The 2 initiatives were done throughout all campuses.

While they will continue to provide as many rental options as possible for students going forward, it is yet to be determined whether they will continue to discount the entire store every term.

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At a glance:

Lawrence LaJoie
LBCC Bookstore Manager
Linn-Benton Community College
(541) 917-4953 Office
"There's more in store, even better than before, at the Linn-Benton Bookstore"

http://www.bookstore.linnbenton.edu/lbenton/default.asp