Christmas Shipping Info

Please use the following guidelines when placing your order for Christmas delivery. Please note, orders MUST be placed by 2 pm on December 23rd. Orders placed after 2 pm will not be processed until Monday, December 28th.

Ground Shipping:
If you are shipping within the state of Iowa, the final date to ship by UPS Ground is December 21st. Shipping outside of the state of Iowa, the final date to ship UPS Ground is December 18th.

2nd Day Air:
Orders must be received by 2pm, December 22rd for delivery on Dec. 24th. 2nd Day Air orders placed on December 23rd will arrive on Tuesday, December 29th.

Next Day Air:
Orders must be received by 2pm, December 23rd for delivery on Dec. 24th. Next Day Air orders placed on December 24th will arrive on Tuesday, December 29th.

Orders will not be processed December 24-27.

Bowl merchandise orders must be received by 2pm, December 23rd to ensure delivery by December 30. Ground Shipping recommended for deliveries to Iowa, 2nd or Next Day recommended for addresses outside of Iowa (UPS is not making ground deliveries on 12/31/09).

New Year's Shipping Info

Orders placed after 2pm on December 30 will not ship until January 4, 2010, even if 2nd or Next Day Air is selected.

ISU Book Store ships all merchandise and textbook orders with UPS. Please be aware of the following UPS New Year's pickup and delivery schedule when ordering:

Wednesday, Dec. 30

• Next Day Air orders received by 2pm today will arrive on Thursday, Dec. 31.
• 2nd Day Air orders received by 2pm today will be delivered on Monday, Jan. 4.
• Ground orders received by 2pm today will be processed and shipped if all items are in-stock. Please visit the UPS Ground Time-in-Transit Maps page and enter 50011 as the ship from zip code to estimate your Ground package delivery time.

Thursday, Dec. 31

• Delivery of 2nd and Next Day Air packages only.
• Orders received today will not be processed/shipped until Monday, Jan. 4.

Friday, Jan. 1 - Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010

• Orders received Jan. 1-3 will not be processed until Monday, Jan. 4.

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.