Northern Arizona University
IN-4: Innovation 4

The NAU Bookstore, managed by Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG), has made tremendous strides in extending the life-cycle of our products, driving sustainability while adding value to the end customer. Since rollout in Fall 2010, the NAU Bookstore has offered Rent-A-Text, what has quickly become the nation’s largest bookstore rental program. Ensuring the use, and re-use of titles, rental extends the life of a book and its edition – driving down the need for new books. At NAU alone, 20% of purchases for the Fall term were rentals, in addition to driving used book sales (23% of total.) With Rent-A-Text quickly becoming the most popular option across bookstores, the NAU Bookstore also features a growing selection of digital content. Leveraging CafeScribe.com, students can now tap FHEG’s digital network for their course materials – with ability to aggregate and share notes with both other students and even their faculty. This digital delivery of content is “green,” and while demand is still a small percentage of the whole, the NAU Bookstore has the technology and infrastructure to meet the growing demands of students. Students are encouraged to try CafeScribe.com (look for Try Now, Buy Later titles for a no-commitment trial.)