Free textbooks are just one money-saving option available to college students

CLEVELAND - Heading back to class doesn't have to break the bank. The days of spending $500 for college textbooks are over. The options are endless to save money or even get your books for free.

Traditional bookstores are closing as technology has readers choosing e-books over traditional books.

"It's easier than carrying around a lot of other books," college student and e-reader enthusiast, Michelle O'Donnell said.

To avoid the fate of retail bookstores, college bookstores are catering to the trends students are following by offering digital versions of textbooks.

"I had to do an e-book only because it was the only format it came in, and I didn't like it," O'Donnell said.

You heard the Kindle lover right. An e-textbook is not a substitute for a real textbook in her eyes.

"I think the kind of learner I am, I like to highlight and have the book in my hands. I'm more a visual learner," O'Donnell explained.

Students said e-books can also get expensive. Sometimes there are limitations on the number of pages you can print and sometimes the format is just funky.

"It'll come out halfway across the page. You can't read the other side and you have to print it again and then I have to spend more money on ink," John Carroll sophomore Matthew Duff said.

College bookstores offering alternatives to new and used books

While digital books are not catching on with some students, the digital world is a popular place to save on new and used books. People from around the world sell their books online. Click here for tips to save if you're shopping online:  http://5.wews.com/MRP

Bookstores are fighting the online battle by fighting back and offering an even cheaper option than new and used with book rentals.

"The rent books are really good, that is if you return them on time, because if you don't they charge you a lot of money for them," Duff said.

Free college textbooks

If you don't want to rent, what's better than free books? OhioLink is a searchable database of 48 million books from 88 statewide colleges and universities. The books are shared between campuses for free.

"Some very common books there may be 25 copies in OhioLink," said Jeanne Somers, John Carroll University Library Director.

Once you get a copy of a book, you can keep it for three weeks. You can also renew it up to four times.

"I had mine for the whole semester. It was a savings of about $150 for a communications class," O'Donnell explained.

But, OhioLink doesn't come without a risk.

If someone else requests your book, you may have to give it back. That means you could be left empty handed mid-semester.

Time will tell if students will leave their bookstore empty because they're finding cheaper options in the digital world.