6A
Monday, August 19, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Lawrence bookstore boasts its specialty as no specialty
Dusty Bookshelf buys, sells variety of used books
Brian Flink / KANSAN
By Liz Musser
Kansan staff writer
As students rummage through piles of used textbooks this week, Jana Leep will be sorting through her own stack of books.
Leep, manager of The Dusty Bookshelf, a used-book store at 708 Mass. St., doesn't buy textbooks, but those are the only type of books that do not interest her.
Jana Leep, manager of the Dusty Bookshelf, 708 Massachusetts St., puts protective covers on used books she just bought for the store.
"Our speciality is that we have no speciality." Leen said.
The Dusty Bookshelf, which opened in late June, is Lawrence's newest used book store. Leep said the bookstore's goal was to fill the niche of a general used book store. While Lawrence has a variety of used book stores, most of them are fairly specialized, Leep said. The Dusty Bookshelf tries to have a little bit of everything from western to science
fiction to foreign language.
"We've tried to create a high-volume, high-selection, high-quality used bookstore," Leep said.
The Dusty Bookshelf is particularly proud of its children's section, a genre that many of their customers have said the used book market lacked.
John Hood, owner of J. Hood Booksellers, 1401 Mass, said he agreed that The Dusty Bookshelf was filling a new niche in Lawrence.
"There is a lot of stuff of a general nature that we have very little of or just don't handle." he said.
His store specializes in scholarly and out-of-print books.
Originally a hole-in-the-wall store in Manhattan, The Dusty Bookshelf started to grow when Diane Meredith, a cashier at the store, bought the shop from the owners.
"The store was literally the size of a closet," Meredith said. "After two years, we had to move to a different place."
As business continued to pick up, Meredith was forced to move the shop to an even larger locale. As the books continued to collect, Meredith realized that Lawrence had a gap in the used-book market for a general used bookstore. While keeping the
store in Manhattan, Meredith brought some books to Lawrence and opened a new store.
The Dusty Bookshelf buys and trades both paperback and hardback books. Leep said she uses the cover price of paperbacks to determine value. Customers get 25 percent of the
cover value in trade or 10 percent in cash. With hardbacks, Leep determines the selling price and then gives the customer half the price in cash or trade.
The Dusty Bookshelf is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
New aquatic center to stay open longer
On his first visit, Kevin McGinn was impressed with the new Lawrence Aquatic Center.
By Liz Musser
"It's more like an amusement park than a pool," said McGinn, Emporia sophomore.
Kansan staff writer
Completed July 20, the Lawrence Aquatic Center, 727 Kentucky St., is no longer an average city swimming pool.
Two water slides overlook one side of the pool. On the other side is a zero-depth entry area which makes the pool both handicap-accessible and manageable for children. This area also features fountains and spray tubes that swimmers can use to soak their friends. The facility has a diving well and six lanes for lap swimming.
Students just returning to town won't have to rush to try out the new center before Labor Day. The Lawrence Aquatic Center has extended its closing date to Sept. 22. Starting Aug. 22, the hours will be modified to fit the school day. Monday through Thursday, the center will be open 3:30 to 9 p.m., Friday 3:30 to 10 p.m., Saturday 1:30 to 10 p.m. and Sunday 1:30 to 9 p.
manager of the center. "Because we opened so late this year, we thought it would be nice to give everyone some more swim time."
Lockwood said that daily attendance at the pool had become four times more than before the renovations and that he had noticed more high school and college-age patrons as well as more families from small, neighboring communities.
"we stayed open later a few times in the past," said Bob Lockwood,
"We have a lot of the features of a water park, but the admission prices make it possible for an entire family to come in here and spend the day," Lockwood said.
Admission prices at the Lawrence Aquatic Center are $1 for children
Lockwood said he had heard of similar facilities in other towns that charge as much as $10 for admission.
"When we have giant crowds, the large deck space and variety of activities, make it so that everyone can still have their own space," Lockwood said.
And despite the increased attendance, the new facility is never cramped for space. Lockwood said.
The Lawrence Aquatic Center cost $2.88 million dollars to build and was financed by a county-wide sales tax.
Enrollment for summer classes increases by 164
Delgado was one of 6,656 students who took classes at the Lawrence campus, which is 164 more than last summer's enrollment.
"I liked the relaxed atmosphere during the summer," said Delgado, San Jose, Costa Rica, graduate student. "It was a lot more fun than during the regular semester."
KU experiences its first enrollment increase since 1991
Delgado said the main reason she stayed in Lawrence was because it took too much time and money to get home.
By Dave Breitenstein Kansan staff writer
Maria Delgado spent her summer having fun in the sun. But she did not leave Lawrence. She took classes and enjoyed the lower stress.
Delgado said her reasons for taking summer classes were different from other people's.
"Some students are taking courses that they may have missed during the school year," she said. "Others may need one or two more classes to graduate, so they're trying to get it done now.
"Compared to the spring semester, campus was pretty empty," she said.
But since 1991, summer enrollment has dropped by 854 students.
Rich Givens, assistant provost,
said there was no one one cause for
the increase in enrollment this
summer.
"We don't have any way of analyzing what reasons students have for taking summer classes, but we're glad they do," Givens said.
The University's fall and spring enrollment has declined for the last few years, so any increase is welcome, he said. Givens said that the University did not advertise extra for summer classes but that some individual departments might have.
Summertime school
1996 marked the end of a sixyear slide in summer enrollment at KU's Lawrence campus. Shown below are each year's summer enrollment totals.
1991 7,510
1992 7,085
1993 7,019
1994 6,832
1995 6,492
1996 6,656
First summer enrollment increase in six years
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
"We publish the Timetable of Classes to tell them what's available. but that's it." he said.
Summer classes cost 6 percent less per credit hour than last fall, but Rich Morrell, university registrar, said that was not the reason enrollment was higher.
"When new tuition rates are established, they begin with the new school year," he said. "Summer rates were the end of one year and fall rates start a new year."
Givens said students always have several options in the summer. They can work to earn money for school, relax or take classes.
"It depends on if a student needs to earn money or not," he said. "Summer is an opportunity to do whatever is best for the individual."
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