Sandra Santos/Daily Journal Father Jim Barrett and student Jazmyne Barrett search through the Cañada College bookstore with the help of employee, Andrew Sloss, on Tuesday morning.

List in hand, she and her father, Jim Barrett, sought the help of Cañada College book store employee Andrew Sloss. One by one, books were added to Barrett’s basket and checked off her list. When it came to choosing an algebra book, Sloss explained that Barrett had a choice.

A new book costs $110. A used book would be $83. Or, Barrett could rent the book for the semester for $35. They chose the latter.

“It just makes sense,” said Jim Barrett, who noted the class might span over two semesters. “Even if we have to rent it twice, it’s still cheaper. I wish they had this when I was in school.”

Started in 2005, the rental program through the San Mateo County Community College District has expanded to all three campuses. It began mostly featuring titles for early education courses due to the funding sources. Today, more than 650 available titles are helping more than 13,500 students cumulatively over the past four years, said Director of Auxiliary Services Tom Bauer. The development has saved students over $1.3 million over the years. Bauer estimates the savings will increase to $1.7 million after this semester.

In most cases, the rental cost is about two-thirds less than the full price. For example, one book that costs $100 to purchase new and maybe $70 used can be rented for $28 a semester. It has to be returned at the end of the semester in good condition without any writing or marks. The rental price is based on costs to the bookstore. Those savings are significant for one book, let alone multiple books required each semester.

College is always a time where dollars need to be stretched. The demand for access to books has only increased recently, explained Cañada store manager Jai Kumar.

“Everybody is trying to stretch their dollars. Many people have reduced tuition or help with tuition. But books are the real sticker shock,” he said.

The average community college student spends $624 per semester on book, according to the California Student Expenses and Resources Survey for 2006-2007. The median semester book cost for the same students is $298. These numbers fluctuate depending on the number of courses in which a student is enrolled. Rental programs are being tested nationwide, and even launching as business Web sites, as a result of these high costs.

Developing the rental offerings locally took some time and began with only a select number of books available for rental.

Early Childhood Education was one of the first departments involved using grant money from First 5 California, which donated $2 million over six years starting in 2000. While First 5 money is still used for the program, it is now funded through numerous sources. Book store revenue is invested in growing the rental offerings. In addition, the school gets $1 per case sold. From that money, the cafeteria recently donated $12,000 that will be used toward the rental program, Bauer explained.

Using donated money comes with responsibility to invest it in books for programs that impact the largest number of students. At this point, about 60 percent of the book offerings are available through rental, said Kumar.

Some studies do not lend themselves to a rental program. Students enrolled in vocational programs, for example, tend to keep their books, he said.

Some students, like those enrolled in the middle college program, have first dibs on rental books. Middle college allows a select number of high school students to take both high school and college courses on a college campus concurrently.

Seventeen-year-old Shae Marx, a middle college student who also works at the Cañada book store in Redwood City, really gets to see the benefits of having a rental option. She’s rang up $700 book bills and still wonders why people don’t pick up rental books generally denoted by a red sticker.

“Maybe they’re not in the best condition. [The books] have been loved. But that shouldn’t matter,” she said, adding the content is still the same. “It shouldn’t matter if the book is new.”

Students do need to focus on returning books on time or face replacing the book cost, at its full price. Krista Miloslavich, a 17-year-old from Redwood City, was well aware of the looming fine. To avoid incurring such a fee, Miloslavich must be a bit more responsible and ensure due dates are on her calendar.

Miloslavich, a middle college student, noted while books are available in the library they are normally available for a limited amount of time rather than the whole semester.

To donate money to the book rental project contact the San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation at 574-6229.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.