An overview of the Southwestern College Textbook Rental Program

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An overview of theSouthwestern College Textbook
Rental Program
2
Textbook Rental Program Overview

• Joint program between ASO and Campus Store
  piloted Spring 2006, with District funding
  beginning Summer 2006
• First textbook rental program in San Diego county
  colleges and universities
• Started with 5 titles,30 copies each for a total
  of 150 textbooks. These five titles were the most
  popular in the areas of Math, Economics, Biology
  and Health
• Rental fee per book was approximately 20.00.
  Cost of each book was approximately 100.00
• 100 of all titles were rented by the third day
  of classes

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Savings to students

• Initial investment of approximately 15,000
  yielded a savings to students of over 11,000 for
  Spring 06 semester alone
• As of Fall 07, total student savings on textbook
  costs is approx. 160,000. We anticipate this
  total will reach 250,000 by the end of the 07-08
  academic year.
• We now have 13 tittles and over 600 copies of
  textbooks available for rental, with close to
  1000 copies planned to be available for Fall 08.

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Benefits

• Positive press received coverage on TV, radio,
  newspaper other local media outlets, for
  example Fox Channel 6 Evening News, San Diego
  Union Tribune.
• Increased customer traffic many rental
  customers also purchase their other books here
  instead of using alternative sources
• Improved relationship with students and student
  government Bookstore now seen as a student
  centered partner in working to reduce textbook
  costs
• Increased faculty support and allegiance
• Governing Board has a new sense of pride in their
  Bookstore as a model for innovative programs that
  serve students and enhance the Districts image.

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Challenges

• Impact on sales book sales can go down as a
  result of an aggressive rental program.
• Warehousing and recovery necessary to have
  adequate space and controls.
• Staffing requires experienced, trained and
  dedicated employees.
• Funding necessary to secure adequate and
  ongoing funding to keep program healthy and
  expanding.

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Imperatives

• Strong, ongoing partnership between ASO, District
  and Bookstore all funding and support for our
  program grew from this collaboration.
• Faculty commitment faculty must be willing to
  make multi-section, long term text adoptions
• Technology must have POS capability to process
  and track transactions
• Internal support must have appropriate
  training, staffing and warehouse space to ensure
  program runs effectively and securely.
• Recovery policy must have fair and effective
  method for recovery of late or unreturned rental
  books.

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Survey Data

• 82 of respondents used savings to purchase books
  for other classes or to enroll in additional
  classes
• 60 said having a rental book was a deciding
  factor in succeeding in their class
• 100 plan to take advantage of the program in the
  future
• 100 were satisfied with their overall experience
  with the program
• 100 of respondent comments requested more books
  to be available for a wider variety of subjects

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QUESTIONS??

• Any questions or comments regarding the Textbook
  Rental Program
• Patti Larkin plarkin_at_swccd.edu
• OR
• Alma Natalia De Castro asodecastro_at_sbcglobal.net