Textbook Rental down to two employees

Cassie Buchman, Associate News Editor

The Textbook Rental Service is now down to two non-student employees, causing them to take on more work and duties along with their regular ones.

There were originally six, with two retiring in 2012, leaving four people working there until two positions were recently eliminated.

The two employees still working in the Textbook Rental Service are Susan Allen, the administrative assistant, and Christina Coffey, the staff clerk.

“Between the two of us, we’re doing six people’s jobs,” Coffey said. “Including our own.”

Coffey said they need to prioritize what needs to be done first, like making sure there are students to help put books up and help students coming in to return their books, and doing inventory.

“We do one, then we’re like check, we’re good at this point, we still have stuff we gotta do, but let’s work on this,” Coffey said.

A lot of these things have to be done around the same time, so to keep from getting overwhelmed, Allen said they need to keep their sense of humor and keep going on.

“I just try not to let it affect (me) too much,” Coffey said.

The two are able to support each other by sharing the work and taking turns with duties, and Coffey said they help each other with what needs to be done.

“We have a laugh and then we’re good,” Allen said.

Most times, they go day by day. Coffey said if there is something that needs to be done one day that does not happen, that is the first thing they do the next morning.

Allen said she was hoping the university would get funding and everything would be fine, but things did not turn out that way.

Though a majority of the books come back during finals week and there are less people coming in during the middle of the semester, there is still much to do in house.

“We always have stuff we’re doing that no one else knows about,” Coffey said.

They had a system going on when they had six people working there, which they changed when two people retired, then changed again when two positions were eliminated.

As more people start coming in during the last few days of finals week, when a majority of the books will be coming in, they will be having more students to put books up and do the normal duties a student worker would do.

“Every end of semester we always have a couple groups or organizations that work and help us out and put books up,” Coffey said.

Allen assisted the deputy director of the Textbook Rental Service until the director retired, and the position was never refilled. Allen’s boss is now interim associate vice president of student affairs Lynette Drake.

The service has about 14 student workers assisting with putting books up, and they are still doing the same duties they have always done.

The Textbook Rental Service is not able to order books for the summer semester without presidential approval.

This includes new books and additional books that need to be ordered if some do not get returned.

Allen said there were some new courses that needed new books, so she was working on getting that approval.

Though it is a little more work, Allen does not mind.

“I’d rather have permission then do it and (have someone be like) You shouldn’t have done that,” Allen said. “It’s just the one step, but it’s nothing.”

Allen said she wishes her former co-workers were still working at the Textbook Rental Services, but she and Coffey said they were there to supply students with their books and that is what they will continue to do.

“We’ve always done that,” Allen said. “Whatever we have to do to get it done, we’re gonna do it.

Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]