SALEM — Some say knowledge is priceless.
At the Salem State College bookstore, we can at least say it's pricey. Some required textbooks top off at more than $200, and the average cost, according to manager Ginger Defino, is roughly $120.
It's high enough that students are responding enthusiastically to a new effort to save a few bucks by renting rather than buying their books.
The program is actually a variation on a long-established practice of buying and then selling the book back. But Defino has been delighted with the first results of Rent-a-Text — about 70 percent of transactions during the summer semester were rentals.
"The savings is up front," she said. Students pay the rental fee after qualifying — producing identification, proving they are over 18, and providing an e-mail address, phone number and valid credit card. The payment is made via credit card, which allows the store to recoup its costs if the student decides to keep the book.
When returned, Defino said, the book can be "highlighted." In other words, students can use a translucent marker to signal significant passages. The binding must be intact, however, and the book in good shape otherwise.
Thus, a book called "Leadership in Organization" costs $148.50 to buy, $111.50 to buy used and $66.83 to rent. Once returned, the bookstore, part of Follett, a chain of 800 stores, can lend it again. But that's an iffy proposition, Defino said, because texts are so frequently updated they can quickly become obsolete.
A third option available at the bookstore is a digital version of the text, something that can be downloaded to electronic readers like Kindle or iPad. For example, "Finite Mathematics" can be purchased outright as a book for $176.50, rented for $132.50 or downloaded for $67.
The prices are high, but a random sampling of students shopping yesterday revealed that they're not taking it lying down.
"I just buy my books and resell them," said Kayla Baetzel, an art major and senior from Lynn. "I (usually) buy them from Amazon." Using the online site, she added, she recently purchased a book for $5 that sold for $40 in bookstores.
Yesterday, she was looking in the bookstore for a "lab manual," the sort of book that's meant to be written in and can't be returned.
Nursing student Cherie Mann of Spencer, a senior, is also an Amazon customer. "I buy on Amazon and sell on eBay," she said. When buying at the bookstore, she sells it back once finished.
Yet, some books are for keeps. Baetzel has art books she won't give up. Similarly, Mann has medical texts she needs for reference.
Senior Yasmeen Kouki of Reading likes to keep her accounting books, "so I can refer back."
"I'm the payer," noted her father, Marwan, as they passed the bookshelves. He added, showing some interest, "I don't know about this renting business."
"It's new," Yasmeen said.
He nodded, then suggested, "You should buy it at the lesser price."
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