Book Purchase Policy

Students who receive a financial aid course book grant should visit the Financial Aid website for additional information on purchasing textbooks.

The process outlined below is for students who do not receive a financial aid course book grant.

Procedure for Course Book Purchases

Dear Students,

As the semester approaches, here is important information on the option of using your student account to purchase required course books at The Williams Bookstore. Reading this information through to the end will help things go more smoothly for you.

You can charge to your college student account (term bill):

What:

Any required course books purchased at The Williams Bookstore are eligible to be charged to your account. No purchases other than course books required for the classes you’re enrolled in can be charged to your student account. If you wish to buy other items at the same time as course books you will need to pay for those items in a separate transaction and pay by cash, check, or personal credit card.

How:

Bring your Williams ID with you when you go to the bookstore. If you misplace your Williams ID, you will be able to use this system the day after you get a replacement from Campus Safety & Security. You cannot use this process without your ID. If you plan to buy supplies or other non-course book items please bring along an alternative source of payment (cash, check, personal credit card).

Select the books required for your courses from the textbook area on the 2nd floor of The Williams Bookstore. Books from other areas of the store, even if they are the same as course books, are not coded as course books and will not work in this process.

If you need to return a book, bring the book, your original receipt, and your Williams ID to the bookstore within the refund period described below. The cashier will process a credit directly to your student term bill account.

Your book charges and credits will be applied to your student term bill account and will be displayed on your bill.

When:

The system for charging course books to your term bill will begin prior to the start of the term and will continue until several weeks into the term. Please see below for the specific dates for each semester.

Dates for Spring 2022 Purchases:
January 21 – First day to charge books with your Williams ID at The Williams Bookstore
February 11 – Last day of add/drop period
February 18 – Last day to return books to The Williams Bookstore for a full refund
May 13 – Last day to charge books with your Williams ID

Returns/Refunds– If you drop/add a course after you have purchased your books, you should return the books from the dropped course as soon as possible and acquire the books for the added course. If you charged the original books to your student account, you will need your Williams ID and your original receipt to receive credit for them. Please note that The Williams Bookstore regular refund policy applies to all purchases regardless of payment method. Please retain your original receipts and read the refund information policy slip given with each purchase.

If you wish, you can use The Williams Bookstore online system and charge your purchases to a credit card as in the past. We regret that at this time you cannot use the online system and charge your books to your term bill. You may still choose to buy course books on your own elsewhere, but books not purchased at The Williams Bookstore are NOT eligible for a textbook grant from the College.

If you have questions about this procedure or have any comments on how it can be improved, please email me at [email protected].

Regards,
Paula Langer, Manager of Student Accounts