This presentation was given at a web conference for those interested in starting a textbook rental program on his or her college campus.

1. Cutting Textbook Prices with a Textbook
Rental Program
Presented by:
Tom Bauer, Director of Auxiliary Services
San Mateo County Community College District
Academic Impressions Web
Conference
March 15, 2007
Updated: March 1, 2009

2. Tom Bauer
Director of Auxiliary Services
San Mateo County
Community College District

3. 2006 Innovation Achievement Award
WINNER:
2006 National Association of College
Stores (NACS) Innovation Achievement
Award.
The program was recognized for its innovation and adaptability to
other campuses nationwide. The District will receive a plaque plus
a $5,000.00 prize for its’ effort. The prize money will go toward
providing additional rental books for students in our District.

4. AGENDA
Textbook Affordability and Access
Innovative Ways to Fund a Textbook
Rental Program
Defining the Program: Criteria for
Textbook Rentability
Implementing the Program
Promoting the Program

5. Equity and Access
“If you want to close the gap between first
generation students in America and the
white middle class, we must focus on
equity and access in higher education for
everyone”.
President Tom Mohr
Cañada College

6. Textbook Affordability and Access

7. Course Material Affordability
Policy Landscape
Noticeable increases in college costs in
tuition, fees, and college textbooks.
State budget cuts for higher education.
Federal student aid funding not keeping
up with need.
Students more dependent on federal
loans.

8. College Board Textbook and Supply Costs
2004-2005 to 2005-2006
College Board Textbook and Supply Costs 2003-2004 to 2005-2006
Average Student Expenses by College Board Region (Enrollment-Weighted)
$ Change from % Change from $ Change from % Change from
2004-2005 previous year previous year 2005-2006 previous year previous year
National
2-yr public $ 773 $ 28 3.76% $ 801 $ 28 3.50%
4-yr public $ 853 $ 36 4.41% $ 894 $ 41 4.59%
4-yr private $ 870 $ 27 3.20% $ 904 $ 34 3.76%
West
2-yr public $ 846 $ 39 4.83% $ 874 $ 28 3.20%
4-yr public $ 1,094 $ 55 5.29% $ 1,123 $ 29 2.58%
4-yr private $ 985 $ 22 2.28% $ 1,042 $ 57 5.47%
Source College Board Trends in College Pricing 2004 , and Trends in College Pricing 2005
Average College Tuition and Fees
•At two-year public, tuition and fees average $112 more than last year, a 5.4 percent increase.
•At four-year public, tuition and fees average $365 more than last year, a 7.1 percent increase.
•At four-year private nonprofits, tuition and fees average $1,190 more than last year, a 5.9 percent increase.

9. Annual Percentage Increase in College Textbook Prices, College
Tuition and Fees, and Overall Price Inflation, December 1986 to
December 2004

10. Used Textbooks
• Used textbooks still represent the greatest
savings for students.
• Book buyback makes the used book an
even better investment if the textbook is
readopted in the coming term.
New Price: $100.00
Used Price:$75.00
Buyback Price: $50.00
Total Investment: $25.00

11. Used Textbooks
• The key to a successful used textbook
program are early faculty adoptions and a
commitment to using the same title in
coming semesters.
• Adoptions by due date allow store to
source used books from all wholesale
companies and buy back books from
students at end of term.

12. WHAT MORE CAN THE BOOKSTORES
DO TO PROVIDE ANOTHER LOW
COST TEXTBOOK OPTION TO
STUDENTS?

13. Excerpt from CALPIRG’s
“Ripoff 101”
Colleges and universities should consider
implementing rental programs similar to
those at several universities in Wisconsin
and Illinois. Students would rent books
similar to the way they are shared in K-12
but the students would pay a fee that
covers the cost of the books.*
*CALPIRG (CALIFORNIA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP)
RIPOFF 101 January 29, 2004

14. San Mateo County Community College
District Textbook Rental Program

15. Textbook Rental Program
• In 2001, the textbook rental program was set up
in the District; a hybrid program, it provides
rental titles for specific disciplines and titles
meeting specified criteria.
• Initial acquisition of textbooks for the program
are funded by state, federal, and private
resources.
• To date, over $1million dollars has been raised
for the program using these sources.

16. Textbook Rental Program
• Rental textbooks provide another great
value opportunity for students.
• Textbooks are rented to students at 75%
off the new price.
New Book Price: $100.00
Used Book Price: $75.00
Textbook Rental Price: $25.00

17. Textbook Rental Program
• Textbooks are rented to students for the entire
term.
• Financial Aid students have three days access
to rental titles before store is opened to public.
• Textbooks must be returned at the end of the
semester.
• Students can choose to purchase rental book by
paying the difference between new price and
rental fee.

18. Textbook Rental Program
Decisions:
• Will you rent new and used books OR will
you only rent new books?
• If you rent only new books, what tolerance
will you have for writing in the book?
• If you rent only new books, what policy will
you have for books that come back with
too much cribbing?

19. Benefits of a Rental Program
Savings to students---significantly reduced
initial investment.
Saving in freight---Bookstores do not have
to continually reorder books semester
after semester.
Campus community sees the bookstore as
actively seeking solutions regarding
textbook prices.

20. Innovative Means of Funding a
Textbook Rental Program
State and Federal Efforts

21. California State Efforts
First Five California is a state funded grant
through cigarette tax dollars.
Program provides a system of supports
and services so Early Childhood
Education/Development (ECE) students
can continue higher education goals.
All ECE titles are purchased once and
funded by the grant dollars
Subsequent rental fees paid for by grant
dollars.

22. Additional State Efforts
• Extended Opportunity Programs and
Services (EOPS)-We are actively urging
the State to allow unused, leftover EOPS
money to be used for the acquisition of
textbooks for a textbook rental program.
• Senator Chuck Schumer has reintroduced
a bill providing for states to allocate a sum
of money to be used for acquiring
textbook titles for the purpose of a rental
program

23. Federal Efforts
Working through the Vice President of
Instruction, $40K was allocated from a
Title V grant designed to give first
generation students in a federally
designated Hispanic serving institution
access to textbooks. This $40K was spent
on acquiring additional textbooks for the
program. Other opportunities like this
exist; we only need to find them.

24. Fundraising for Textbooks
• Identify programs and grants that would be
interested in working on such a program.
• Work with Foundation Office, Student Services,
Student Government, Chancellor or President's
Office. Everyone needs to be involved.
• Illustrate the benefits of such a program with
facts, figures and student testimony.
• Impact of donation dollars-helping many rather
than just a few.

25. Other Types of Donations Received
• Payroll Deductions from District-wide staff.
• Donations from Foundation fundraising
campaign---both individual and corporate.
• Donations from large bookstore/District
vendors---directly solicited.
• Donations from local organizations-Rotary.
• In lieu of flowers donations.
• Faculty buybacks-proceeds to program.

26. SMCCCD Rental Program
January 2006 January 2009
• 1,700 students • 13,000+ students
• 35 titles • 500+ titles
• $106,373 at full retail • $1,631,580 full retail
• $26,593 rental fees • $407,895 rental fees
• $79,780 savings • $1,223,685
to students savings to
students

27. Defining the Program
Criteria for
Textbook Rentability

28. What Determines Textbook
“Rentability”
Two-Year Adoption
New edition
One-term books only
Course Frequency (every semester)
Transferable Classes Preferred
Non-Bundled

29. Two Year Adoption
 In order to recoup the expense of this program,
we require at least a two-year commitment to a
particular textbook.

30. New Edition
The book must be a new edition so we
can ensure availability and maximum
savings over the lifetime of the edition.

31. One-Term Book
Books that are used by students for two
consecutive terms (i.e. 361A and 361B)
are not eligible for rental, because they
would have to be rented twice which
would negate some of the savings to the
student.

32. Course Frequency
Courses must be ones that are taught
every semester (both Fall and Spring).

33. Core Classes
We’d prefer courses to be either general
education or core classes for a certain
major. There must at least be multiple
sections using the same textbook. This will
allow us to provide maximum benefits to
the largest number of students. The
courses must also be transferable.

34. Non-Bundled
Unfortunately, supplementary components
will not be eligible for rental although we
may be able to sell them separately.

35. Cloth Cover
Due to the constant handling and normal
wear, it is recommended that you choose
Cloth Bound (Hardback) textbooks.

36. Implementing the Program

37. Bookstore Requirements to Operate
Rental Program
Administrative Buy-In is Essential!
• Meet with key stakeholders; Chancellor,
Presidents, Deans, Student Government.
• Present all the facts and figures; beware
the “academic freedom trap”. You are not
there to jeopardize academic freedom.
• Once all stakeholders are on board, start
promoting to faculty and ramp up
fundraising efforts.

38. Bookstore Requirements to Operate
Rental Program
Allocate separate class and department.
Having the right POS system.
Creating POS and GL codes.
Document paper trail and follow-thru.
Determine means of retrieving outstanding
books.
Taking markdowns for unreturned books.
Storage space needed for textbooks.

39. Allocate Separate Class/Dept.
• There is a difference in set up of a
donation funded rental program and a self
funded rental program.
• Donation funded-no impact on inventory
levels and stock ledger; no depreciation of
asset.
• Self funded-The asset is yours; depreciate
over the rental period until you reach
break even or better.

40. Having the right Point of Sale (POS)
System
• MBS Systems, Nebraska Book and
Budgetext all have textbook rental
modules.
• Evaluate each system to determine what
is right for you.
• It is especially important to examine the
modules interaction with the financial
modules of the system.

41. Creating POS and GL Codes
• This is a new class; it must have its’ own
class and POS code for processing at the
register.
• Regardless of how you fund it, there must
be a GL account set up. If self funded, GL
account must be stock ledger driven; if
donation funded, GL account must be non
merchandise driven.

42. Document Paper Trail & Follow
Through
• Create a contract-essential for return
enforcement.
• Contracts to be signed at POS and
validated with transaction.
• Follow up on all non returned items with
letter and copy of contract.

43. Retrieving Outstanding Rentals
• Policy Required: Holding records,
registration, grades; collection agency.
• Policy in place to deal with replacement
copies; if student purchases book or does
not return book, it needs to be replaced.
• Campus wide outreach policy for
unreturned rentals.

44. Markdowns for Unreturned Books
• If self funded, markdowns on the inventory
stock ledger necessary.
• If donation funded, no impact on stock
ledger or inventory. Replacements come
from donor money. This should not lessen
your resolve to retrieve unreturned copies.
This can impact future donations.

45. Storage Space
• Important to observe guidelines for rental
eligibility. If book is used for two years,
semester after semester, storage should
not be a major issue.
• For textbooks outside the guidelines,
storage space must be allocated for the
textbooks.
• Summer storage required for books used
in fall and spring only.

46. Bookstore Requirements to Operate
Rental Program
Create a department agreement
– Include multiple signatures
Create a customer agreement form
– Include serial number
– Include identification number
Create a customer return form
– Include serial number

47. Bookstore Requirements to Operate
Rental Program
Cashiers
– Train data sequence for rental
– Train proper completion of forms
Receiving procedures change
– Additional steps
– Apply serial labels, sku labels, rental labels,
mark each book with serial

48. Promoting the Program

49. Promoting to Faculty
The program must be • Write a letter
promoted to key explaining the
stakeholders; program.
• Send a mass e-mail
Chancellor, President, to all faculty.
Academic Senate and • Target specific
faculty members. classes for rental.
• Prepare department
presentations.

50. Promoting to Students
Students are very • Attend student
effective at promoting meeting; explain the
the program to program.
faculty…the program • Charge students with
directly impacts them. promoting the
They want to see it program directly to
succeed. their faculty.
• Give interviews and
show specifics;
students get it!

51. Alumni and Community Support
• Highlight the program in the alumni
newsletter; student testimonials are very
important.
• Present program at college fundraising
events; again, student testimonials are
essential.
• Be active in the community; Rotary,
Kiwanis and other community groups love
programs like this one.

52. Media Promotions
• Write to the editor of the local paper to
have a story written about the program;
this generates great interest and support.
• Call the local television station to see if
they are interested in a community story;
we did and were highlighted on
Eyewitness News on the first day of fall
classes.

53. Signage

54. Advertising Fliers

55. Display

56. Next Steps
• Meet with key campus stakeholders-define
program scope and your needs.
• Evaluate POS/system capabilities.
• Identify funding sources on your campus-
foundation office can be very helpful to
identify avenues.
• Send letter to faculty explaining program
and asking for title commitments (sample
e-mail attached).

57. Next Steps
• Solicit strong student support; urge
students to rally faculty.
• Purchase textbooks with funds
raised/identified.
• Identify storage needs and capabilities
• Prepare rental titles and put out the “FOR
RENT” sign in front of your building.

58. Additional Questions
Tom Bauer
Director of Auxiliary Services
San Mateo Community College District
3401 CSM Drive
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: 1-650-358-6782
E-Mail: bauert@smccd.edu

59. Resources
National Association of College Stores
Textbook Rental Compendium
NACS Product Center
1-800-622-7498

60. Store Resources
Cañada College Bookstore-Jai Kumar
Phone 1-650-306-3199
Cal State Fullerton Bookstore-Chuck Kissel &
Omar Iftikhar
Phone: 1-714-278-3418
Central Missouri State University-Charlie Rutt
Phone: 1-660-543-4470

61. POS Resources
MBS Textbook, Inc.
1-800-325-0530
Nebraska Book Company
1-800-869-0366
Budgetext
1-800-800.8227