Students have 1 month to ship off university rental textbooks

Jordan D. Brown, Staff Writer

As students begin to submit their final assignments, the return of rental textbooks to the Morgan State University Bookstore, located in the Student Center, is traditionally the last step in the semester. But as the campus remains shut down due to the coronavirus, Morgan switched to a mail return for all its books and has given students until June 16 to ship them off.

Barnes and Noble College, Morgan’s newly appointed bookstore operator, is supplying students with access to a free UPS return label. To begin the process of a return, students will need their textbook ID number and university email address.

“While these times are unprecedented and circumstances are fluid, we also know this is temporary, said Lisa Malat, the president of Barnes and Noble College in a march email. “We want to express our sincerest thanks to our incredible store teams and to our customers, for your continued support.”

Once students enter their textbook ID number and university email address, they’ll be prompted to complete a rental return form, print the return label and ship their book off.

Despite the bookstore’s communication with students via email for several months, many are unaware of the school’s new procedure, including graphic design major Charles Colbert.

Once Colbert, a freshman, learned about the change, he grew frustrated with the university’s decision of who was allowed to access campus. He said there should be a dropbox for students who live in close proximately to the school.

“I feel like of course right now it’s really like the only option,” he said. “But if they have people getting their belongings from their buildings, they should be able to turn in their books as well.”

Bookstore Manager Angela Harris said although the due date to return textbooks is Friday, students have until June 16 to ship them off before they’re charged for unreturned books.

“The best time to return your rental is between May 15 and May 31,” she said.