Iowa State University Book Store Announces New Store Director (May 2010)

AMES, IA – The Iowa State University Book Store is pleased to announce Rita Phillips as the new store director.  Phillips replaces Lynette Seymour who retired in August 2009. 

Phillips was hired in 2001 as the book division manager, where the department received the award for Outstanding Growth in the Ratio of Used Textbooks Sold to Total Textbooks
Sold by the Independent College Book Store Association.  That award recognized a 48% increase in the ratio of used textbooks to new textbooks.  Even today, UBS continues
to offer a large selection of used textbooks that exceed the industry averages.  Most comparable institutions operate closer to a ratio of 30% used textbooks.   

“In difficult economic times, it has become very important to help students find value in course materials,” Phillips said.  “I am extremely pleased with our staff’s willingness to look
at new and innovative ways to meet the needs of our students and the goals of the bookstore.”

Most recently, Phillips served as the retail manager, overseeing all retail operations for the store.   Effective April 19^th, she officially began the role of store director. 

“While many things have changed in the 137 years UBS has been serving Iowa State, one thing has not - our service,” said Phillips.  “I’m proud to become part of that tradition of
serving ISU students, faculty and staff.” 

UBS can be reached at 515-294-5684.

Iowa State University Book Store Awarded Textbook Rental Grant (October 2009)

AMES, IA – In an effort to continue focusing on the affordability of textbooks in higher education, the Iowa State University Book Store (UBS) will begin offering textbook rental. UBS is one of 30 recipients of a U.S. Department of Education grant to fund textbook rental programs. The $300,000 award will be utilized over the course of two years to launch and grow a rental program for ISU students.

"Beginning a rental program requires a significant investment," said Rita Phillips, interim director of UBS. "This grant provides the necessary dollars to begin and then grow a rental program here at ISU."

UBS will offer rental of a few select titles beginning in spring semester 2010. Faculty would have to commit to the same text for at least four to six semesters in order for rental to be economically feasible.

“We are currently working with our faculty to establish which courses may be a good fit for the new rental program,” said Phillips.

Phillips said the grant to launch the rental program is welcome news, because it’s another step that will help alleviate student debt.

“UBS has always made extraordinary efforts to provide affordable course materials. Those efforts include a strong used book program, buyback, electronic book offerings and now textbook rental,” she said.

UBS offers a large selection of used textbooks that exceed the industry averages among comparable institutions.

“Our used book ratio in the fall 2009 semester was at 41 percent,” said Phillips. This means that 41 percent of textbook sales were used books, which cost students 25 percent less than new. Most comparable institutions operate closer to a ratio of 30 percent used textbooks. UBS also negotiated with several used book vendors to offer students “Used Book Deals.” This program gave students 45 books to select from in a variety of courses with pricing well below the regular used price. These used books saved students more than $200,000 on the costs of their course materials in the fall semester.

UBS can be reached at 515-294-5716.

New Delivery Initiative Begins on ISU Campus  (July 1, 2009)

AMES, IA – In an effort to reduce on campus vehicle traffic, consolidate deliveries and streamline operations, while contributing to the Live Green initiative, campus customers will now receive many of their order deliveries from one, centralized source. The Iowa State University Book Store (UBS) and Central Stores will be combining delivery efforts. Beginning July 1, 2009, customer orders placed with UBS will now be delivered by Central Stores.

Running only one delivery truck on campus will potentially save up to 1200 gallons of fuel each year. In addition, the Central Stores truck is soy biodiesel powered, which supports both the Board of Regent’s sustainability initiative and the state’s green government initiative encouraging increased utilization of biofuels.

“One truck on campus helps considerably not only from a budgetary perspective, but also from a green perspective,” said Lynette Seymour, store director at UBS.

Customers will see no difference in service as a result of this change. Norm Hill stated, “We will continue to provide timely deliveries and meet the needs of our customers.”

UBS and Central Stores are available during normal business hours should customers have any questions regarding orders or a delivery.  UBS can be reached at 515-294-5716 and Central Stores at 515-294-0408.