Students and book-lovers have the chance to help Weber State University computer lab aides this week, as the labs are putting on a book sale in the Shepherd Union Atrium. The book sale goes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and is being put on to help fund a scholarship intended for one of the computer lab aides.
Sarah Tribe, assistant to the coordinator with WSU’s computer labs, said the scholarship fund was started last semester to help individuals who work in the labs pay for school. Tribe said much of the money for this scholarship comes from advertisements on all the computers’ screensavers, and the book sale is intended to help supplement that.
“Each semester, we’ll choose one lab aide to get the scholarship,” Tribe said. “So, based on their academics, their participation in the lab, their participation in the community — there’s a whole array of categories — and whoever best meets all of those receives the scholarship for one semester, the scholarship for basically as much as we can raise.”
Tribe said they are aiming to have the scholarship for a computer lab aide be a full-ride scholarship for one semester. Tribe also said the goal for the book sale is $1,000.
Lab aides from all of WSU’s computer labs, including those at the Davis and West campuses, brought in all of the books, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes for the labs to sell.
“Everybody brought them in either from their personal stash of books, or they got them from family, friends, just anyone they could,” Tribe said.
The books stretched across several tables lining the atrium.
“It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this,” Tribe said. “Last semester was the first time we did the scholarship, and basically it’s all driven by lab aides, so all of this is lab aides that brought in the books, and these are all lab aides working at the sale.”
Jerry Shepherd, a student working on his general education requirements at WSU, stopped by to browse through the books and DVDs, looking for a James Patterson novel that he said is one of his favorites. Shepherd said he thought it was nice that the labs were doing this for a student.
Monica Dicke, a business major at WSU who also works at the computer lab in the natural science building, said she also thinks the book sale is a benefit to students.
“I think it’s a really good idea to raise money and help some of the computer lab aides pay for college,” Dicke said. “That’s pretty awesome. Working at the computer lab, you don’t make that much money, so having a little extra money to pay for school will help out a lot.”
The book sale features textbooks for $5 each, hardcover books and DVDs for $4 each, paperback books for $3, and a variety of children’s books, magazines, VHS tapes and CDs for $2 each.
“We really basically just want people to know what we’re doing more than anything,” Tribe said. “Just that we’re raising money — the lab aides are raising money themselves for this scholarship, and they’re just happy. They might not even get the scholarship; everyone has the opportunity, but they’re just happy that one of their co-workers will get it.”
The sale continues until 2 p.m. tomorrow, and Tribe said everyone is welcome to swing by and check it out.
