July 21, 2010

The Allan Hancock College Bookstore has found a way to save students up to $250,000 dollars during the
2010-11 school year by offering textbooks for rent at 40 percent of the cost of a new book.

“It’s way better than buying my books, and so much cheaper,” said Andrea Ceron, an Allan Hancock College student studying sociology.

Ceron said she heard about the book rental program from a friend and immediately rented a book for a nutrition class for $50 that would have cost her $120 to buy. She said she’s going to try to rent all of her books in the future.

The textbook rental program began in 2008 with 10 books. That number jumped to 19 different titles and 375 books by the end of the spring 2010 semester; there are plans to increase the number of books for rent to 40 titles and approximately 1,500 books for the fall 2010 semester. Book rentals will also now be available at the Lompoc Valley Center bookstore.

Already the Hancock bookstore has made great strides, and Hockensmith estimates that with the addition of more books for the fall semester, the book rental program will be one of the largest in the state.

“The program has been very popular with students,” said Bill Hockensmith, director, Bookstore Services. “Students come in to the bookstore, and book rentals are the first thing they ask for.”

Hockensmith has spent more than a year researching ways to help students save money on their books, and he is convinced that a strong book rental program is the best option.

“The Hancock bookstore has been trying to hold down student costs, which is why we maintain a large selection of used books,” he explained. “The book rental program is our next step to help students by providing books at an even lower cost.” (At left, Bill Hockensmith helps Sarah Samaniego through the textbook rental process.)

The program couldn’t come at a better time, according to Roger Hall, an associate professor of history at Allan Hancock College. The book for Hall’s popular California history class is one of the titles currently available for rent. Hall said he has heard nothing but great feedback from students who rented the book.

“Publishers have accelerated the rate that they put out new additions, and the cost of textbooks just keeps going up,” Hall said. “Since we can’t control what the publishers do, this is a solution for right now.”

In recent years Hall said he’s also noticed an increase in the number of students who choose not to purchase the textbook for his classes and instead use the copies on loan in the library or go without. Sociology student Ceron was one of those students.

“There have been times when I couldn’t afford to buy all of my books at the beginning of the semester so I had to wait or use the books in the library,” she said.

Recently, Ceron said she’s noticed that a lot of her fellow students were also heading to the library to study without purchasing the book. This semester when she tried to borrow textbooks from the library they were often already checked out.

To address the clear need from students, and with the help of faculty who have been very supportive of the program, Hockensmith plans to expand the book rental program until it makes up at least 25 percent of the bookstore’s business. He’s confident that every single one of those 1,500 books will be rented this fall, adding up to that $250,000 in savings for students.

“Very few students have chosen not to rent when given the choice,” he said.

Textbook rentals for the fall 2010 semester will be available starting Monday, August 9. For more information on the book rental program, go to the Hancock bookstore’s website at http://bookstore.hancockcollege.edu or contact them at 922-6966 ext. 3238.

- AHC -