When I bought my books for school this semester, I didn’t have to think too hard about how I was going to do it.

With TXTBookRental closing its doors, the prospect of renting books for little-to-no-money was shot, and I didn’t even want to give the USI Bookstore the time of day. Needless to say, I’m not a fan of waiting in line.

So, of course, I was left with the option of doing it all online, which I’m always a little hesitant about. While I understand that the Internet is probably always the most cost-efficient – and, let’s face it, Amazon is basically the go-to for everything, but  it isn’t always the most reliable.

And when you’re spending money on things that are essential to your academic success, you kind of want to make sure you’re going to have it when you need it.

I say all of this not with the intention to talk you out of online shopping but to persuade you to want to have your options open.

Even though I buy most of my textbooks through Amazon, I still liked having TXTBookRental there as an option. I frequently used them to compare prices and determine which books I would rather rent than buy.

And if I wasn’t sure which book I needed or didn’t know if a book was needed or found out an additional book was needed, I could use their store as an emergency stop after I had already been to my classes.

So with them no longer in the picture, my window of possibilities narrows. I no longer have the flexibility and freedom of playing the waiting game. Now, I’m forced to make an executive decision upfront – something that anybody that knows me knows I am terrible at doing.

And if you ever went to TXTBookRental, you know on some level of consciousness that many students appreciated the service they provided. You could even say it was written on the walls.

But literally, it was written on the walls. It was even drawn in various sketches and doodles.

To me, this aspect of the store always created a sense of student culture and community – something that I always want to see more of. It allowed me to feel like I was a part of something, like I was sharing in something, which is always comforting.

And it’s nice to feel comfortable, whether you’re a new student at a university or you just have a lot going on. I just hope that someone else picks up where the past owners left off because I don’t want that positive atmosphere to go to waste.