Bookstore offers convenient online ordering, e-books
Lyly Bird, bookstore manager, and Andrea Richard, textbook manager, promote the benefits of buying textbooks online. (Ashley Henderson)
Students shopping for fall semester textbooks have clear advice from campus bookstore staff: Remember to bring your ticket number and class schedule with you.
“If [students] come with their ticket numbers, it’s a lot easier to find exactly the books they need … it eliminates any errors,” bookstore manager Lyly Bird said.
Students can order books in-store, or online at the bookstore’s Web site.
“Buying online is convenient.” Bird said, “There’s no waiting in lines or searching for books.”
Students who order online can pick up books in-store or have them shipped directly to their homes for an additional cost.
Despite the convenience of online ordering, most students continue to shop in-store.
“The vast majority are still coming in,” said textbook manager Andrea Richard. “But year after year we’re seeing an increase on the online side. Some people are now very comfortable with things online.”
About 20 percent of the textbooks have e-book versions available as an alternative to hard copies.
Students can purchase e-book versions of textbooks on the bookstore’s Web site or in-store.
E-books are carried through Cafescribe (www.cafescribe.com), a social networking Web site which enables students to highlight and make notes in e-books, and join virtual study groups discussing their subject.
E-books and Cafescribe are relatively new developments. So far only a small number of Saddleback students have embraced the technology.
“Right now, it’s just starting, and there are only a handful of students,” Richard said, “but there are a lot of possibilities.”
The bookstore staff is constantly working to meet the needs of the campus community.
“We want students to know that this is their bookstore, and we work really hard to provide them what they need. We want to make the bookstore part of the college community – more involved with what happens on campus,” Bird said.
The bookstore contributes to the campus financially.
“A portion of every sale goes back into the campus through [student government] and helps to fund campus organizations and clubs,” Richard said.
The Saddleback College Bookstore is located on the first floor of the Student Services Center building.
It sells a range of Saddleback College theme merchandise and a small selection of food and drinks.