Students saved more than $11,000 this quarter on books by renting instead of buying, according to figures released by the SCC bookstore.

The new rental program went into effect for fall quarter in an effort to save students some money on books, which accounts for a large cost of education.

In fact, according to the National Association of College Stores, the average cost for students each year nationally is $807. That’s almost 20 percent of the average total cost for a resident student at SCC (tuition, fees, books).

Mary Kelemen, the bookstore director, said that over 400 books were rented by 388 students this quarter. Of the 80 titles they offered for rental, 57 were rented, she said. This only makes up a small percentage of the 475 titles that the bookstore offers.

“I’m hoping it (the rental program) will grow and more students will take advantage of it as we go,” Kelemen said.

The nuts and bolts of the program are simple: walk in, find your books, check for a label that says, “Rent this book,” and then provide a credit card and sign on the dotted line. Students under age 18 will need to bring a parent, and the books will need to be returned by the Monday after exam week. Only current students can rent.

The program began this quarter after the SCC bookstore partnered with Nebraska Book Company, which had already been renting books for two quarters.

Kelemen said that they hope to offer more books as the program grows, but are dependent on what is available for now.

“The books that are available tend to be new books and books that are widely used,” she said.

Kelemen said that the savings were calculated by comparing the cost of rental with the cost of a new book.

However, this doesn’t take into account the money – however little it may be – a student would get from selling their book back at the end of the quarter.

“I’m skeptical that it will actually save me any money,” student Brian Cervino said. “I saved like $20 by renting it, but I can’t sell it back. It might be good because (students) don’t have to lay out as much (money) upfront.”

While many students are turning to online sources to save money on books, Kelemen worries that students can get the wrong editions and then be stuck having to buy books twice.

But, there were some issues for SCC with the initial roll-out, Kelemen said.

Some books that came from wholesalers had rental tags on them, but were not actually available for rental here. Since the tags look the same, this did cause some confusion, but, Kelemen said, it won’t be a problem in the future.

Kelemen said rentals will be definitely be offered through the rest of the academic year, and will likely continue beyond that.

Dan DeMay - Editor in Chief