Move into the dorms? Check. Register for classes? Check. Stay up all night with new friends? Check.

Wait — forgetting something? Upon arriving to your first class, these dreaded words will be uttered by each professor: Buy this textbook.

Fortunately, there are different options available to students.

Two places are available for students to buy textbooks on UNA’s campus: the university bookstore on the first floor of the Guillot University Center and the Off-Campus Bookstore, located on N. Court Street.

The UNA bookstore’s Course Material Manager Micah Todd said the competition of varied textbook locations is healthy both for students and the bookstore itself.

“It keeps us extra sharp in the goods and services we provide,” he said. “Despite the presence of the competitors, UNA students continue to choose the on-campus bookstore for a great value and unique service.”

Across the street from Keller Hall, the Off-Campus Bookstore resides in a small cottage and houses UNA fan gear and textbooks.

Off-Campus Bookstore Store Manager Brad Nichols said buying books in person saves a lot of trouble someone could have if they were to buy online.

“Buying at the Off-Campus Bookstore ensures the student will get the correct textbook the professor wants,” he said. “Sometimes with buying online, students receive the wrong book or even the wrong edition required for the class.”

Nichols also said buying and renting textbooks at the Off-Campus location is easy.

“Basically, you leave your credit card number as collateral, pay the rental fee and get a date for return,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

Off-Campus Bookstore customer and UNA student Evan Sandy said he never uses his textbooks.

“Professors require we buy these expensive textbooks, and then we never end up using them,” he said. “If I do buy the books, I try to spend less than $200 a semester.”

A new way of buying textbooks has arisen through the use of social media. The “UNA Student Book Exchange” group on Facebook was created by UNA transfer student Nathan Flippo and has approximately 950 members.

Flippo received the idea from Mississippi State University in 2009, where he was attending college at the time.

“I hoped to help out the local students by bringing the idea here and giving them the same opportunities I had enjoyed previously,” Flippo said of implementing the idea at UNA.

UNA student Amber Denson said she is not convinced the UNA Student Book Exchange group is very effective.

“I am a nursing student, so not many of the textbooks I need are available on the page,” she said. “I usually buy my books at the UNA bookstore, where I pay at least $100 for each book among the five I have to have during the semester. I hate doing it, but it’s for the nursing program.”

So, even though buying textbooks may not be appealing to your wallet, bookstores around campus and community involvement through social media have made options for buying books readily available to students.