Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is implementing a new School Supply Library program this year that allows students to sign out items they forget to bring to school.
“We sometimes underestimate the cost of school supplies, but sometimes they can make or break our semesters,” CUSA president Lily Akagbosu said of the program’s importance.
“The idea is that we have a list of those items that students may need,” Akagbosu said. “We go out and get some of those items, we have them in CUSA available at no cost to students, they can simply come in, borrow the items, and return them.”
She added although the initiative is helpful for students who forget items at home, it is also meant to help students who cannot afford to buy the items themselves.
The items available include phone chargers, laptop chargers, scientific calculators, regular calculators, lab coats, and goggles, Akagbosu said.
Students do not need to book ahead in order to sign out an item, but they do need to give the CUSA front desk their student ID card as well as their contact information.
Although keeping the student ID card acts as an incentive for students to return the items, it may be an issue for students borrowing lab coats who need to show their student ID in order to get into their labs.
Cassandra Ambar, CUSA front desk supervisor who oversees the new program, said there is no time limit on how long the items can be lent out, but students have only been signing items out one day at a time so far.
“As long as you want [the student ID card] back, you can keep it for as long as you want,” Ambar said.
The size of the program remains unclear. Each CUSA representative who was asked about the program’s inventory provided a different answer.
Akagbosu said she could only give rough numbers for the inventory because she did not put in the order herself.
Ambar gave a different answer.
“There’s ten, but that’s for now,” said Ambar on how many of each type of item is offered through the school supply program.
“That’s depending on the demand from students,” she said. “We could always buy more, so like if there’s not enough and a student needs something, we can always go buy one at the INS store or something like that.”
Farook Al-Muflehi, CUSA vice-president (internal) who implemented the program, did not respond to the Charlatan’s request for comment on the initiative’s inventory.
Students said they think the program is a good idea, but they also voiced concerns over its logistics.
Ayah Arabikatbi, a fourth-year commerce student said she wasn’t aware of the new program.
“Honestly I only use CUSA for printing,” she said.
When asked what she thinks about the program, Arabikatbi said she thinks it will alleviate a lot of stress students have.
“I think that would be great for calculators,” Arabikatbi said. “Because a lot of us forget our calculators at home and then we have an exam and we’re screwed.”
She added there have been times where she has had to run around campus to find a calculator, and she has also lent her calculator to strangers who had forgotten one.
“Someone borrowed my calculator,” she added. “I saw her face and she was terrified, she had an exam in like 30 minutes and she couldn’t find a calculator.”
Casandra Luckasavitch, a third-year social work student, said she heard about the program through CUSA’s Instagram.
“I thought [the program] was pretty smart,” Luckasavitch said. “I’m not sure how many people follow CUSA, so maybe it should be more advertised in school.”
When asked whether she would use the program, Luckasavitch said she wouldn’t think of going to the CUSA office.
“I probably would ask my friends before going there,” she said.
Mackenzie Collings, a second-year political science student said he isn’t sure about the program’s operations.
“I would question how it’s being paid for,” Collings said in light of the Student Choice Initiative (SCI) which allowed students to opt-out of non-essential tuition fees and cut funding to student groups like CUSA.
Because Al-Muflehi made the promise to implement this program during the CUSA elections, the program was planned as part of his $3,000 projects budget in the vice-president (internal) portfolio, said Akagbosu.
Collings also said he wasn’t sure the CUSA office was the best location for students.
“I think the CUSA office is a little bit out of the way for some people,” Collings said.
“I don’t think you would just find [the office] someday, you would actually need to know where it is,” he said.
The CUSA office is located in 401 University Centre.
Feature image by Spencer Colby.
