While many parts of Pennsylvania were buried under vast accumulations of ice and snow last week, employees at State College's three student bookstores enjoyed the calm before their own storm.

The semiannual mad rush for textbooks was held off for a few days as many Penn State students were delayed in returning from the semester break by weather that was not conducive to traveling.

Regardless of the weather, store managers looked forward to a hectic weekend with crowds of students infiltrating their shops through the week, while the few students in town took advantage of the large availability of used books. Tom Bauer, general manager of the Penn State Bookstore on Campus, said Thursday that the weather was hurting the store's business.

Each bookstore made special preparations for the beginning of the semester to attract as many customers as possible while managers each boasted that their store had the biggest selection of used books.

The Penn State Bookstore on Campus is running a contest and several special sales on merchandise to go along with other rush week arrangements.

Campus bookstore employees will be handing out maps of the textbook area as well as printing out course schedules for students who do not bring theirs along. Bauer said the store has 38 cash registers and several extra employees working during the rush week to ensure that students will not have to wait in line for more than seven or eight minutes.

On Sunday, the bookstore on campus was busy with hordes of students returning to State College. Elizabeth Wilson, marketing supervisor, said that even with 38 registers open, there still were "one or two people in each line."

Norm Brown, manager of the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., said there will be about 80 employees working throughout the rush with 19 cash registers. Brown said he was ready for the crowds on Thursday, although all he could do was wait.

Steve Long, manager of University Book Centre, 206 E. College Ave., said his experienced staff and high-powered electronic cash registers make the book rush easier.

"It will be crazy for a week to 10 days," Long said, adding that he still looks forward to the rush.