The Bookie employees have noticed a new trend in textbook sales this year.

Students are being more selective with their purchases, said Joel Bouchey, a manager at The Bookie.

“They seem to be picking and choosing the most important books to buy and putting off the rest of them for later,” Bouchey said.

He attributes the lack of purchases to the continuing delay in financial aid disbursements.

About $69 million in loans, grants and scholarships has been delivered to roughly 11,745 students so far, said WSU spokesman Darin Watkins.

But more than 2,000 students, like senior communication major Kaitlyn Rohr, are still waiting on their financial aid.

“Since I have not received any of my financial aid, I can’t get any of my textbooks,” Rohr said. “I can’t even rent them for a lower price because the rentals are already sold out.”

Bouchey expects more students like Rohr will come in to purchase textbooks once the remaining aid is given out.

Some professors have attempted to help students by making assignments available online.

Professor in organic chemistry, Jeffrey Jones, said he is trying to help by doing anything he can to lower costs for students.

“Because books are so expensive, I have been putting assignments online or having students have the option to purchase the access codes for general chemistry rather than buying the book,” Jones said.

Some other professors have put books on reserve in campus libraries for students to check out, said Robbie Giles, the circulation supervisor for the Owen Science and Engineering Library.

“Many people think professors get free copies of the textbooks that they assign, and that is not necessarily true,” Giles said. “While some may, most do not. And so for a professor to place a book on reserve they would have to purchase it themselves.”

The department of mathematics buys textbooks for entry-level classes, but for the most part, individual professors pay out of their own pockets to reserve books for students, she said.

Anyone having problems getting books should talk to their professors, Giles said.

“As a staff member here, I can tell the students that the staff and faculty really do care about their success here,” she said. “So, if you’re having problems let the department know, let your professor know. They may not realize it’s affecting as many people if they don’t know.”