Much like renting a car, when you rent your books from SIUE you are liable for their condition. The car should not be returned looking as if it just went five rounds in a demolition derby, and neither should the book.

In recent years, Textbook Services said they have cut some slack with their return policy, letting minor water damage and wear and tear slide. However, that is set to change in the fall as they are reverting back to their damaged book policy.

Textbook Services Supervisor Bonnie Elmore said this is for the students’ own good.

“We run solely off student funds,” Elmore said. “Our goal is to keep the costs for students down as much as possible.”

If a book is returned with damages, students will be charged a replacement price. The determined price will be the most recent amount Textbook Services paid for that book.

“About 80 percent of all students charge their books to their student account, and that’s where they will be billed if they return a damaged book,” Elmore said. “For those who pay with cash, they’ll have to cover the cost with cash.”

Elmore admits she expects some basic wear and tear to appear on rented books, but nothing too excessive. She also understands several students highlight key points in their texts.

“We’ll accept reasonable highlighting, but we prefer none,” Elmore said. She also requested if a student is to highlight in the book to use a yellow highlighter instead of a fluorescent color.

Textbook services will give students some leeway during the beginning of each semester, with their return policy.

“If a student brings a damaged book to me in the first two to three weeks of a semester and says they received it that way, then that is much more understandable than at the end of the semester,” Elmore said.

Sophomore business management major Lindsay Ernest of Chesterfield, Mo. has dealt with returning damaged books in the past.

“I had one of the big CMIS books in my book bag, and it got rained on,” she said. “All the pages became wavy and I got charged around $200.”

Ernest also noted she does not mind getting issued a book with slight wear and tear.

“As long as I’m able to read the text, then I’m fine,” Ernest said.

Junior business major Jared Myers of Columbia was once charged over $100 for a damaged book, and said he has since then taken the initiative of covering his books in hopes to save money.

Elmore urges students to flip through their books as soon as they get them, and report any damage they find immediately.