Ordering your books for your summer classes.

If you have financial aid, you can now use it to order your textbooks on-line through the Barnes and Noble RACC Bookstore. Textbooks will be shipped to your home at no charge as the physical store is closed.

Click here to order your text books

• Click on TEXTBOOKS
• Click on FIND TEXTBOOKS
• Choose SUMMER for the term 
• Enter each course that you are registered for and it will indicate what books you need
• Add items to your cart and then proceed to checkout
• Create an account if you do not have one
• Choose financial aid in the payment step

To check to see how much financial aid you have for books, log into myRACC and click on Self-Service. Then click on My Bookstore to see available funds.

Reading, PA – RACC students, who will graduate on May 5th, participated in the second annual “Career Ready” event at the Boscov’s store in Exeter on Tuesday, April 25th. This event was built upon the unique partnership of Reading Area Community College, Truist Bank and Boscov’s Department stores, to set graduating students on the right path for success. Each student participated in financial literacy sessions facilitated by the experts at Truist, as well as met with the Director of Career Services at RACC for job search preparation.  Buyers from Boscov’s were on hand for a special presentation on color coordination, accessorizing and proper attire demonstrations for interviews. Upon completion of the various sessions, each student received a $250 Boscov’s shopping spree to purchase new career attire.

Last year’s inaugural “Career Ready” event was a rousing success with exuberant students moving through the Boscov’s store to select new clothing and outfits that they would never have thought possible. “Many of our students have never been able to purchase a new suit or put together a completely new outfit”, RACC President Susan Looney explained. “This opportunity to shop with the assistance of personal shoppers is a dream come true for our graduates”.

Providing professional clothing to RACC students for their job interviews would assist them in presenting a more professional appearance and make a good first impression.  Looking and feeling confident helps students to focus on being their typical best and be in a better position to communicate their skills and qualifications.

“Truist is proud to partner with Reading Area Community College and Boscov’s in helping their students prepare for the next step in life. Our company’s purpose is to ‘Inspire and build better lives and communities’ and this event certainly gave us the opportunity to help fulfill that purpose here in Berks County” said Truist Market President David Roland and Senior Vice President Schnearia Ashley. 

“We’re delighted to partner with Reading Area Community College and help launch the careers of so many outstanding students.  We thank Truist for the investment they have made in the graduates and in our community. We are pleased and excited to help outfit these hard-working students as they enter the workforce,” says CEO of Boscov’s Department Stores, Jim Boscov.

“This is a wonderful collaboration between three leading Berks County organizations. Our RACC graduates have the training to be successful in the workplace, and thanks to this event, they now have the professional attire to complement their skills along with the important understanding of budgeting their own finances,” said Tony DeMarco.

Reading Area Community College (RACC) believes in the educational access of each Berks County citizen and the economic and cultural development of the community it serves.  It is committed to providing diversified educational opportunities for individuals to develop their maximum potential and realize their self-worth and dignity, while serving as the conduit between high school graduation, degree-seeking programs and / or career training, and a family sustaining career.

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) offers two annual competitions to “honor excellence in student publishing: Crown Awards for overall excellence and Gold Circle Awards for individual student recognition.”

Legacy 2022 was initially recognized as a Crown Finalist and later honored with a Silver Crown as a print literary magazine at the 2023 CSPA College Media Convention. According to the CSPA, Crown Awards are “the highest level of recognition given by the CSPA” to a student publication and one of the highest honors in college media. 

Below is the complete list of award winners:

• Grub Street Literary & Arts Magazine, Towson University, Towson, MA
• Lighted Corners, Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, MA
• Port City Review, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA
• The Tower, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Legacy, Reading Area Community College, Reading, PA
• Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Parnassus, Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill, MA
• Windhover, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

We are the only college in the state of Pennsylvania to receive this prestigious distinction, which is a testament to the great work of RACC students and the staff of the journal. Congratulations to the contributors, the student editors who helped produce the 2022 edition, the Editor-in-Chief and Layout/Design Editor, Dylan Sokolovich, and the faculty advisor, Dr. Bahar Diken.

The CSPA also awarded Legacy’s 2022 issue four national Gold Circle Awards:

• First Place – Experimental Fiction
  Shianne Ayala-Lind, “Pretty Girl”
• First Place – Cover Design for Literary or Literary Art Magazine
  Miguel Santiago and Dylan Sokolovich
• Certificate of Merit – Table of Contents Page
  Dylan Sokolovich
• First Place – Portfolio Illustration
  Mia Davis

The complete list of individual awards can be found here.

Legacy 2022 contributors also took top awards from The Community College Humanities Association (CCHA). The CCHA’s annual literary magazine competition highlights student work from all over the nation. Honoring the best in the Eastern Division, the CCHA named the following contributors as winners of its prestigious literary magazine competition.

• First Place – Best Artwork
  Mia Davis, “Wanderer”
• First Place – Best Song
  Rachel Dodson, “Alice”
• Third Place – Creative Nonfiction
  Rachel Dodson, “A Conversation with My Dad”
• Third Place – Short Story
  Jack Weaver, “The Silence of the Bugle”

Congratulations to the CCHA winners for their exceptional work.

Legacy 2022 and all the past editions can be seen here.

March 14, 2023 — Reading Area Community College’s Phi Theta Kappa Chapter, Alpha Sigma Rho, earned several awards at the Middle States Regional Convention, including the Tenth Most Distinguished Honors in Action Project in the Region. Chapters receive awards for their work on projects that support PTK’s Four Hallmarks (Service, Scholarship, Fellowship and Leadership).

One of these projects, Honors in Action, challenges members to develop a research question and plan an action based on the Honors Study Topic.  This year’s topic was The Art and Science of Play. The chapter officer team and active members investigated the mental health benefits of play for college students. As a result of their findings from this academic research, the students planned and implemented a set of actions, designed to maximize these benefits.

This project, along with other chapter activities demonstrated members’ research and leadership skills and commitment to seeing a project through from development to completion. “I am exceptionally proud of the hard work and dedication of the Alpha Sigma Rho Chapter,” says RACC Professor of Social Work/Sociology and Phi Theta Kappa Advisor, Danelle R. Bower.

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society recognizes academic achievement of community college students and provides opportunities for them to grow as scholars and leaders. For more information about Phi Theta Kappa at Reading Area Community College, please call 610.372.4721.

RACC Signs Guaranteed Transfer Admissions Agreement With Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania

READING, PA – On Tuesday, July 26, Reading Area Community College (RACC) signed a guaranteed transfer agreement with Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania in the Miller Center for the Arts on the RACC campus.

RACC and Commonwealth University (Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield universities) established this agreement to ensure qualifying students who graduate from RACC are guaranteed admission to Commonwealth University with at least full junior standing; with a guarantee for a renewable transfer scholarship based on the students' academic performance while enrolled at RACC and Commonwealth University.

"We are celebrating today a new agreement with Commonwealth University, which will open many new doors of opportunity for our graduates. This pathway is the result of great cooperation and collaboration between faculty and deans of our respective institutions and will serve well both the needs of our institutions and, more importantly, those of our students," says Reading Area Community College President, Dr. Susan Looney.

Commonwealth University will guarantee on-campus housing at the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, or Mansfield campuses for the first year of full-time attendance for transferring students who wish to live on campus.

"Commonwealth University is committed to working with our community college partners to break down traditional barriers to education and ensure students have a clear path to success. This agreement is a shining example of partnership in action," said CU President Bashar Hanna. "I'm thrilled to witness the collaboration between our colleagues at Reading Area Community College and Commonwealth University—their vision and dedication is providing students a seamless transition, along with guaranteed, renewable transfer scholarships. Thank you to all who have made this possible in service to our region's students."

Student scholarships are also an exciting component of the agreement. Commonwealth University will award 4 tiers of transfer scholarships to RACC graduates – Tier 1 (3.50 GPA or above at RACC) will award $5,000 annually, Tier 2 (3.0 – 3.49 GPA at RACC) will award $4,000 annually, Tier 3 (2.50 – 2.99 GPA at RACC) will award $3,000 annually, and Tier 4 (2.0 – 2.49 GPA at RACC) will award $2,000 annually.

"The availability of student scholarships when transferring a RACC associate degree to Commonwealth University's bachelor's degree program makes access to a continuing education easier and will reduce the financial burden for our qualified transferring students," says RACC Director of Academic Partnerships, Kristen M. Marcinko.

To learn more about the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania transfer agreement, or for more information about other transfer opportunities, contact Leora Chernesky at 610.372.4721 x5106, or visit https://www.racc.edu/services/transfer-services.

About Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania
With 500 combined years of serving the students of Pennsylvania and beyond, Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield universities have joined together under the banner of Commonwealth University. Our mission is to expand high-quality, affordable academic opportunities to support the needs of all learners. Together, we provide financially responsible degree options that maximize experiential learning, career preparation, and efficient time to degree completion.

About Reading Area Community College
Reading Area Community College is an accredited, comprehensive, open-enrollment education institution that provides associate degree, certificate, and diploma programs, career-focused training, transitional coursework, skills training for business and industry, personal enrichment programs, and public service activities. Sponsored by Berks County, the college provides affordable access to meet identified community educational needs.