Textbook Rental & Buying Help

There are many questions I've seen about how to get your textbooks, rent them, buy them, etc.  To help here is some insight into textbooks and how it works.

For renting textbooks:
Textbook rental in the bottom floor of the library, the entrance is on the side by Dearmont Hall (there is a sign) will scan your ID when you enter and give you a copy of your schedule. You use this to look for your class books, which are arranged by class. Once you select your books you check out with your ID and they are charged to your student account.  The staff at textbook rental monitor class enrollment to make sure there are enough books for each student in a class. You choose the specific textbook from the shelf you want. Some want the books already highlighted, others want the newest looking one, etc. For example if you are in PS103, you will see the books arranged by class (so look for PS on the shelves, they are in alphabetical order) and choose the textbook for PS103. The rental fee is $25.94 per course, not per book for the duration of the semester. All rental books must be returned in satisfactory condition on or before the Monday following finals week. PLEASE note this, turning in your book that you left most of the semester in the back of your pickup truck or that you left on the floor in a basement of your house that flooded, means you bought the book (minus the rental charge). 

You can follow this link to learn more, including a FAQ section that talks about what happens to lost books, can your parents checkout your books, and can you rent books for classes you are not in. http://www.semo.edu/textbookrental/rent/index.html

Buying textbooks:
While not common for first year students, you may have to buy a book and you do this at the bookstore in the University Center. The books are also arranged by course and you select your book and then checkout. At the bookstore you can pay for them (cash, credit, debit) or have the charge applied to your student account. For some books at the bookstore you might be able to rent them. This can sound confusing because it is not part of the University's textbook rental program, but the information on the shelf where you pickup the book explains it all. You will see a note that says either "by it" or "rent it." This limited rental program is one advantage of the partnership we have with Follett corporation managing the University's bookstore. Follett looks at books from across all it stores, think thousands, and because of this can allow students to rent some textbooks because of the demand across the nation.  For 90% of first year students you won't be buying your textbooks and certainly won't have to consider this rental program until you get to be a second semester sophomore or a junior.

For more information on buying textbooks you can check out the Bookstore's website at http://www.bkstr.com/southeastmissouriststore/home/

Advice from my side (instructor) of the classroom:

1. You should go to your first class before you buy your book to see what the faculty tells you about the text. I always cover this in my classes on the first day the specific text(s) my students need/don't need.
2. If you have any issue, you should ask either the textbook rental or Bookstore staff. There are extra people on hand at the start of the semester to help with questions.
3. Highlighted textbooks seem like a great shortcut on what is important, but remember this is what another student, likely taking the class from a different instructor thought was important.