Skyline’s Academic Senate is making a push for faculty members to donate extra copies of textbooks to the Book Rental Program in support of students who are low on funds.

The Book Rental Program, which started in Canada College several years ago eventually made its way to Skyline and CSM. It allows students to rent textbooks at the campus bookstore for 25-30 percent of the cost of a new book.

This semester, the Academic Senate donated $300 to the program, but according to both Academic Senate Vice President Ray Hernandez and Secretary Sandra Hsu, the budget is not enough.

“We donate about $300 a year,” Hsu said. “But as you know, textbooks cost a lot more than that, so it doesn’t help many students. The new thing is that we want to ask all instructors to please donate extra books to the Book Rental Program and this will really help a needy student out.”

According to Hernandez, the budget, which was discussed during the last Academic Senate meeting on Feb. 22, it is one of the biggest discussions they’ve been having.

The budget is limited to only $300 due to other priorities, such as scholarships, which the Academic Senate considers to be top priority.

“This year, we talked about it and we found it doesn’t buy many books,” Hernandez said. “We know every little bit helps, but our funding comes from the dues that we receive from faculty. Our dues are not very much, so we devote most of our money to scholarships.”

Despite limited funding from the Academic Senate, the program receives donations from other resources.

“We solicit funds from the bookstore’s vendors to the major used book companies that the bookstore works with,” said Skyline Bookstore Manager Kevin Chak. “We also work with our district foundation. They give us donors, such as companies that the district itself deals with.”

As of now, all the rental books are gone, according to Chak, but with the help of Skyline instructors, the program hopes to increase their inventory to help out as many students as possible.

“At this point, I’m sending out an e-mail asking for instructors to donate their extra copies to the rental,” Hsu said. “And that increases the inventory. So instead of having 25 books, we hope to get a few hundred books, and the more you can rent, the more you save.”

This strategy also hopes to help expand the selection of books, which already includes all the Early Childhood Education (ECE) textbooks funded by the First Five Grant in San Mateo, according to Chak.

When asked if she has used the rental program, Sara Torrigino, bookstore employee and former Skyline student said no because it does not cover her major.

“It covers mostly Early Childhood Education,” Torrigino said. “Also Biology and Psychology classes, and those aren’t my majors. But definitely, if they had it in my major, I would.”

The Book Rental Program, along with the Academic Senate hopes to make books available for rent to many students despite their major.

“We support anything that has to do with student success,” Hernandez said. “That is a priority for us. We wish we could give more, and we look at creative ways to give more when funding is available.”

SIDEBAR: How to rent a book:-If a title is rentable, it is stacked with the new and used books in the Skyline Bookstore.-Books for rent or purchase are identified by a green sticker that says “Rent or Buy.”-Books for rent are identified by a red sticker on the side, just like used books are identified with the yellow used sticker.-Rentals are anywhere from 25-30 percent off the cost of a new book.-Rented books need to come back in the same condition they were rented in.

Penalties for unreturned books:-Students who fail to return rental books are billed on their school account.-The cost covers full replacement of the book plus tax and a $5 late fee.-If not paid after 30 days, it goes over to a collection agency.