The rush for buying textbooks is finally dwindling downtown.

But as students make the final sweep to purchase their semester books, some are finding they have to buy them from a small, independent bookstore.

A handful of Penn State professors have decided to sell their course books through Webster's Bookstore Café, 128 S. Allen St., rather than through the HUB-Robeson Center's Penn State Bookstore or other downtown sellers.

Webster's owner Elaine Meder said some professors choose to sell books through her store to expose students to the downtown community. "The town is so set up with the student end and the town end," Meder said. "The people who support us are the people who recognize us as a part of the community."

English professor Elizabeth May said she has ordered her textbooks through Webster's for the past three years.

"I go to Webster's because I saw another small independent bookstore, Svobodas, go out of business when Barnes & Noble opened up in State College," May said. "I just didn't want Webster's to have to compete so much with the other major bookstores in town."

Norm Brown, manager of the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., said he does not see Webster's as direct competition in the market of textbook sales because the store does not specialize in academic books.

However, some professors prefer the intimate atmosphere of smaller bookstores. "Small bookstores will do special things for you, like sponsor readings, which give a lot of exposure to local and university writers," May said.

Penn State Bookstore General Manager Tom Bauer said that as the official university bookstore, the Penn State Bookstore can offer some benefits that the independent bookstores cannot.

"Scholarship discounts are not honored in the other stores," Bauer said. "And a percentage of the purchases made here go back to Penn State."

May said she feels comfortable doing business with Webster's year after year because they "go the extra distance."

"It is customary for them to call my students immediately when a book shipment has arrived," she said, although this is not exclusively a service at Webster's.

Jessica Blasco (junior-journalism) said that when the bookstore was out of stock for one of the books she needed, someone called her to tell her the book was available. However, she said only one of her professors sells exclusively through Webster's, and it can be out of the way to purchase a book or two at Webster's when the rest of them can be bought in the same store.

Rob Epler (junior-English) said teachers selling books through only one small store limits the ability to shop freely. "I was constrained to paying one set price at Webster's, rather than being able to shop around," Epler said.

Meder said she did not originally consider carrying course books but was approached by professors.