Students can buy books for a dollar or less at 666 Guardsman Way, where the Marriott Library is holding a year-round book sale.
The book sale quietly moved to the Archives Building near the Steiner Aquatics Building due to ongoing construction at the library.
Not many students have stopped by the book sale because of its new location, said Teddi Kachi, library specialist.
“I don’t know what building that is where they’re hosting the sale…but it might be worth driving around to find good prices on books,” said Amy Davis, undecided junior. “I think I spent about $500 on textbooks this year.”
For those who find the building, the deals are worth it, Kachi said. Hard backs sell for $1 and paper backs are 50 cents.
Many students who are looking for an alternative to the expensive costs of textbooks at the U Campus Store are encouraged to browse the shelves, Kachi said.
“Sometimes an older edition is not that much older or much different from the current one,” she said.
The most popular genres are history, philosophy, math, physics and literature, she said.
The books are categorized by theme, ranging from the visual arts, to political science, to languages. Kachi said both students and the public can find out-of-print material they may have a hard time finding anywhere else.
“It’s not only students,” Kachi said. “People who hear about it come by, we have a lot of staff, and sometimes people come to do research in the archives and just browse the books.”
There are months in which more books are sold than others, Kachi said. The number of sales increase during the beginning of semesters when people come back to campus.
September was the highest selling month last year, with a total of about $2,000 in sales. The lowest month was January with $748.13.
People in the community donated the books for the sale, and the money made from the book sale returns to the library to help replace lost or missing books, Kachi said.
“It’s a good way of recycling material, and one of the primary goals is to provide a service to the university community, by providing low cost materials,” she said.
Although fewer people come, the people who do seem to buy more, Kachi said. The sales from last year to this year have remained fairly constant, she said.
The book sale is open Monday through Friday, and although the building is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., interested buyers can call (801) 581-7526 in advance to make sure someone will be there to assist them.