By Rory McNelley, Staff Writer

As students arrived back on campus and prepared for classes, trips to the Book Depot took longer than usual, with hours-long lines that zig-zagged through the room, out the door and folded back down the hallway.

The Day One Program, operated out of the Book Depot in the Robinette Center for Innovation, is designed to give students easy access to required academic material so they can have a smooth start to the semester. 

This semester, when some students went to pick up their books, they were met with uncharacteristically long lines. During peak hours of operation, some students waited up to three hours in line.

“I waited two hours on Tuesday for just one book. It seems very inefficient. In the fall, I didn’t even have to wait because there was no one else there,” first-year political science major Peyton Travis said. 

The change in efficiency is likely due to a new method of bagging up books. In previous semesters, students’ books were collected ahead of time and pre-packaged in a bag labeled with students’ names. This spring, Book Depot employees had to scan the shelves for each book individually when a student came to collect their materials. 

Newswire reached out to the Book Depot for further information about the changes, but representatives were not available to comment.  

“I waited just around an hour and was nearing the door when I had to go to class. It was the only time that day I could have waited. I wasn’t able to return to the bookstore until two days later. I needed my books way before then,” first-year Philosophy, Politics and the Public major Jenny Davis said.

Word of mouth spread the news of this inconvenience, causing students to alter their plans to get their books. 

“I saw a picture of how long the line was and didn’t even try to go because I didn’t have that much time to wait in line. So I still don’t have my books,” first-year Philosophy, Politics and the Public major Thomas Clark said. 

Beginning last semester, first-year students had to pay $125 to receive their books compared to prior years where the Day One Book Program was included in tuition. If students decline to opt in to the Day One Program they will have to find their required course materials on their own, potentially causing them to spend more money but avoid the lines.