Anyone who’s stepped into the University Book Store this fall knows that textbooks aren’t laid out the way they used to be. Beginning this summer, the University Book Store began arranging textbooks by author’s last name rather than by course.

“It made more sense to arrange it by class,” said Craig Welter, a sophomore in agricultural business.

Chelsey Stamper, a junior in kinesiology, agrees.

“It was easy knowing what class you were in and it was all right there,” she said.

While Stamper and Welter aren’t keen to the change, Heather Dean, University Book Store book division manager and courseworks buyer, said the change was necessary.

“A lot of it was to save space,” Dean said.

The Department of Residence isn’t the only one feeling the strain of more students. The University Book Store had to find the space to house its books before students purchased them at the start of the semester.

“More students means more books,” Dean said.

The switch to sorting books by author’s last name has allowed the University Book Store to free up nearly 500 linear feet of space, Dean said. To put that in perspective, that’s the length of nearly 1.4 football fields.

The book store is saving space by no longer placing certain books and course packets in more than one location.

Dean said before the change was made, the food science and human nutrition (FS HN) 420 course packet was put on the FS HN 420 shelf along with microbiology and toxicology shelves because the FS HN 420 was cross-listed across the three departments.

Now, the packet is only found under its author’s last name.

“It’s an industry norm,” Dean said, adding that schools the book store looked at when deciding to make the switch, such as the University of Missouri as well as the University of Arizona, had done so with success.

Most of the flack the University Book Store has received has come from faculty, Dean said. Faculty members were concerned that students wouldn’t be able to find the books they needed for their respective classes.

“They have book lists, they can still find them,” Dean said in regards to what they’ve been telling faculty who are concerned about the change. Dean added that the University Book Store made sure a “textbook list by author” feature was added to AccessPlus, so the students would have an easier time finding their textbooks in-store.

While it will take time for students and faculty to get used to the change, Dean said it was something that had to be done, and something that makes sense.

“Look at the library,” Dean said, referring to the fact that books arranged by author’s last name is nothing new.

The arrangement change isn’t the only change coming to the University Book Store, Dean said. In October, digital shelf tags will be added, allowing prices and inventory to be managed more efficiently and in near real time.