After garnering support and contributions from the UA Bookstores, UA Libraries and nonprofit organizations, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona successfully started their pilot Textbook Loans program at the beginning of this semester.

“”The Textbook Loans program is something that the UA Libraries has been open to since ASUA came to us with the idea last fall,”” said Robyn Huff-Eibl, a member of the materials access team for the UA Libraries and a library specialist.

The Textbook Loans program allows students to borrow textbooks for two hours from the reserves section on the first floor of the library.

“”There are approximately 150 textbooks in the reserves section, and students can take them out of the library in case they forgot their book at home, or they can take it into the ILC to study,”” said ASUA Sen. Adam Schuman, a political science junior.

The UA Libraries were in full support of the program and worked with Schuman on the idea.

“”He liked the concept of the reserve area and he wanted to use the area to facilitate the use of textbooks for students,”” Huff-Eibl said.

But the loan program did not come about without a few challenges in terms of funding.

“”We used to be over our budget, but we received a huge discount from the bookstore to buy books and we also have a renewable contract with the bookstore, who gave us $2,000 to continue the loan program for however long it needs to continue,”” Schuman said.

Along with support from the UA Libraries and UA Bookstores, ASUA also found support from a nonprofit organization.

“”We received a $6,000 grant from the Parents and Family Association, and all of the money went straight into purchasing textbooks for the loan program,”” he said.

There are still feelings of uncertainty about the loan program and whether or not it can make an impact for students, said Huff-Eibl.

“”This is one way to address the textbook affordability problem, but it’s not really the long-term way to go about it,”” Huff-Eibl said. “”The publishers are really the group to fix the problem.””

The pilot program is still in its early stages, but some students have already given feedback on the program.

“”Some students have said that it’s a great program and that it’s a great alternative for those students who have a professor require a book only to read two or three chapters from it,”” Schuman said.

Other students had not yet heard of the program and didn’t see any real use for it.

“”I have never heard about it, and I do all of my reading at home so I need them at home,”” said Julie Emery, a nutritional sciences junior.

The selection of textbooks cater mostly to the larger majors on campus.

“”Right now we have textbooks for political science, because it’s the most popular department, and we also have books from the sciences and foreign languages,”” Schuman said. “”We wanted to get either the very expensive or very popular textbooks into the library.””

The UA Libraries are also working to create greater awareness of the program.

“”We have signs in the library to direct students and links on the UA Libraries course reserves Web site to tell students about the program,”” Huff-Eibl said.