By Lyndsey Payzant
Fudge. Women''s shoes. And, of course, books.
But cell phones and custom-made shirts?
Founded in 1906, the BYU Bookstore is a provider of a number of services students pass by daily. Many patrons don''t notice the Pack and Ship, cell phone kiosk or even the huge selection of books ? all things that could make their lives a lot simpler.
'We are here for the students; that''s our reason for being,' said Gordon Brown, a Bookstore sales manager. 'We want to make their lives easier.'
The Pack and Ship, for instance, located on the first floor, provides shipping services for almost any item a student might want to mail, from bicycles to a human finger, said Ryan Alleman, Bookstore shipping director. Students most frequently use it in April to ship belongings home for the summer.
'I''ve seen a lot of things get mailed here,' Alleman said. 'We ship guitars, longboards, surfboards lab mice?.I was here one time when we shipped boxes of human urine for someone''s project.'
Another often ignored stop on the first floor of the Bookstore is the Custom Specialties shop, Brown said, where shirts and other promotional items are emblazoned with the BYU logo.
?Anyone can use it, for department or club shirts,? he said.
The shop has only been open for a year and can do silk screen or embroidery on shirts, Brown said.
Upstairs, a kiosk on the second floor provides cell phone assistance. It is compatible with almost any service provider, including Sprint and Cingular, Brown said. The kiosk offers multiple cell phone plans, and allows students to trade in their old phones to donate to charity.
The BYU Bookstore is also the home of the largest selection of LDS publications in the world, according to Roger Reynolds, Bookstore director.
In addition to major commercial publications like the ones offered at Deseret Book, the BYU Bookstore also publishes scholarly research done at BYU and abroad.
?We carry the more scholarly publications with smaller, more targeted audiences,? said Linda Brummett, General Books manager. ?We have a broader base than most commercial outlets. We have things other Church bookstores just don?t carry because it doesn?t sell.?
BYU publications offered at the Bookstore include pamphlets, compilations and books from BYU Studies, the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute of LDS History and FARMS, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies.
Also located in the book section is a new photo kiosk. Here, students can plug in their computers and upload their digital pictures right to the photo station. Traditional film developing is also available.
?The photo desk has the lowest price around for digital prints,? Brown said.
Besides shipping, DVD rentals, book selection and photo desk, the Bookstore offers custom framing and a cell phone kiosk in addition to the usual clothes and BYU paraphernalia.
But even with all the extra services the Bookstore provides, students still seem to pass by without notice or interest.
'Students don''t have time to research the things the Bookstore has to offer,' said Lacy Sparks, a pre-nursing student and a two-year Bookstore employee. 'They use it just to get food from the Twilight Zone or to buy textbooks. If students knew, their lives would be a lot easier.'