Bookstore now selling copy center, supplemental materials
A student waits in a line that is flowing out the door of Copy Center One into the traffic of the Taggart Student Center’s main hallway. He is waiting to obtain supplemental materials for his class. After five minutes, he reaches the counter to find that the packet he was looking for is now being sold by the Utah State University Bookstore.
The USU copy centers and bookstore have reached an agreement that involves the making and selling of supplemental materials.
The agreement’s intent is to make custom materials on time, with the lowest cost, by the first day of class, said Annalee Hall, custom publishing supervisor at the USU Bookstore.
Hall said there are 158 faculty members that utilize the service, and 192 titles of class materials.
The copy center will continue to publish the materials, while the bookstore sells them.
“The copy centers would do what they do best – copy,” she said.
With the agreement, Hall said teachers can go to any copy center to have their materials produced. This program also enables students to buy the books and supplemental materials in one place.
This new agreement is convenient because “you’re already there getting your books,” said Eric Anderson, a sophomore.
Anderson purchased a booklet for his class. He said he knew where to get the materials because his professor had told the class to purchase the materials from the bookstore.
Some students were unaware of the agreement and still try to buy the materials from the copy center, said Lynette Kelley, copy center worker.
In previous years, if the materials had all been distributed, the employees of the center could make a copy while the students waited.
This is no longer an option as all the materials are transported to the bookstore to be sold.
“Some students don’t like it,” Kelley said.
There are also some professors who have expressed concern over the new system.
“My classes are big and they don’t make enough copies,” said Thomas Toone, professor in the art department.
Toone teaches art history and said his students are required to buy an extended syllabus for his classes.
He said that the best solution might be to “go back to the old way.”
The copy centers might appreciate that idea because Kelley said she and the other employees have been doing more work.
The employees of the copy center have faced an increased work load because many of the manuals have had to be reprinted due to shortages, Kelley said.
However, Hall said the bookstore has received a lot of “positive and successful feedback.”
She said one advantage the agreement has is it allows scholarship and Pell-grant students to get their materials without paying up front, like they have to do with the copy centers.
“The bookstore is the only authorized place to accept scholarships and Pell-grant money,” she said.
She admits the plan is not perfect.
“We’re still working out the bugs,” she said.
Any comments and feedback about the agreement are welcomed and would be helpful. The bookstore wants to serve the students, Hall said.