As the Fall Semester approaches, BYU-Idaho is getting ready for the return and arrival of thousands of students.

The BYU-Idaho University Store is a place where students can purchase both required and non-required materials for the semester. During the seven-week break, the University Store has worked hard to prepare for new and returning students.

According to University Store Director Ryan Buttars, the store’s mission is to lower the cost of education. “So that’s been one of our biggest projects through the seven-week break.”

As part of lowering the cost of education, the University Store has been working on making textbooks and other resources and material available online.

“There are always technology changes that we have to deal with,” Buttars said. “But in most cases, we’ve been able to align with the industries that help deliver materials to students.”

The university is using a system called “auto-access” which makes the online material available to students when they sign up for a class that uses the material.

The store has also created a system that saves students and the store both time and money. Text Express is a system that makes buying and renting textbooks easier and cheaper. Every semester when students sign up for classes, they receive a booklist with all the course materials and textbooks that required for their classes.

For a $5 fee, the University Store employees will gather a student’s books and materials, bag them up, and organize them on racks located in classrooms outside the store. When students come to campus, they can go to those classrooms, swipe their I-Card and pick up their books. The amount to rent or to buy the books is then charged to their student accounts.

The program has been successful as students don’t have to wait in long lines.

“The max time we’ve had students wait in line was about 62 seconds,” Buttars said.

The University Store sells more than just textbooks. It has everything from clothes, souvenirs and electronics to journals, jewelry and school supplies.

“We also spend quite a bit of time on what the next biggest thing is for students and what’s going to make their experiences a little better,” Buttars said.

For more information about the University Store, visit byuistore.com or call 208-496-3403.