Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
a round cafe table with two chairs around it and books and a succulent on top of it. there are three plants on a ledge to the right.
a round cafe table with two chairs around it and books and a succulent on top of it. there are three plants on a ledge to the right.
Pexels | Pixabay
Career

CatSwap Books Give Students an Alternative to Buying Textbooks

Haley Blackburn
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UK chapter.

According to a study by the CollegeBoard, the average cost of books and supplies for a fulltime student can range anywhere between $1,240 to $1,460 per year. That amount is on top of the other tuition, room and board, transportation, and other living costs that college students also have to pay.

 

In the spring of 2018, a group of UK Freshmen Leadership Development Program students founded CatSwap Books. CatSwap Books is a student-ran program where students can leave old textbooks for others to take free of charge and pick up those that they need as well. 

 

The team asks that if you do take a book, consider donating a book of your own or even returning that one once you’re finished. 

 

Any type of book is accepted, but the primary type of donations they are looking for is textbooks or other class materials used by professors. They accept donations across all disciplines and subjects. 

 

“We saw a need to reduce expenses for students on campus, and saw a solution in the textbooks kept from the past semesters,” said founders Brennan Dodds, Natalya Hippisley, Haley Holthaus, and Amy Keith on the website.

 

If you are interested in donating or utilizing this resource, you can find the CatSwap shelf in the Student Memorial Room in the Hub/basement of Willy T Library. 

You can also reference online catalog to see if they have what you’re looking for before heading to the library. The catalog should be updated for this semester within this coming week.

Haley is a sophomore Journalism major at the University of Kentucky with a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. When she’s not writing, she spends her time watching lots of movies, hanging out with her amazing boyfriend, and doing service projects in the community.