College goes corporate
BARNES & NOBLE TAKEOVER OF BOOKSTORE BRINGS $ 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 FOR COLLEGE
BY VICTORIA DURLING
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
To new students, the changes to the campus bookstore
are not even changes - the way the bookstore looks
n o w is th e only way they know the bookstore to be.
Students w h o ’ve been on cam pus before this fa ll
remem ber W einer W ednesday, $1 coffee and cheap
snacks and they’re lam enting the loss of one of the
hom iest and m ost individual spaces on cam pus.
Former Clackam as Com m unity College President
Joanne Truesdell began the framework in the 2016-
17 school year to decide which o f three com panies to
bring into CCC to help the bookstore create a profit,
rather than have the school subsidize the bookstore
to keep it afloat. Between now and June 2021 Barnes &
Noble will continue to operate in the CCC bookstore,
th e school is guaranteed $200,000 in the contract’s
first year, or 8 percent, 10 percent or 12 percent of all
gross sales as per the contract - the terms are similar
in the follow ing years.
From m issing their daily Hot Pockets to mourning
the loss o f their favorite brands o f tea, students miss
the individuality and number of products that usdd
to be offered in years passed.
The new college president is seeing how the changes
are playing out.
“ I ’ve heard concerns and have concerns m yself
about w hat th e reasons were for that and w hat the
benefit is for students is going to be and for faculty
and staff as w ell,” CCC President Tim Cook said about
the addition of Barnes & Noble to the C C C bookstore.
“ I know I’ve gone through the bookstore a few tim es
and I guess I was surprised. I thought we ’ d have more
in there and have more - more a lot of things. I go in
about once a week and just check it out becausew hat
I’ve been told Is that they’re continuing to add and
they’re continuing to work on th a t.”
W ith tuition already up an extra $7 per credit from
the 2017-18 school year, many students already faced a
tighter budget going into the new 2018-19 school year. so that students may access high-quality m aterials
Extra costs on food, books and supplies from the without having to pay inflated store prices.
bookstore are som ething they cannot afford.
The C C C Course Reserve program is an o th er
“ I believe there are more opportunities to rent and resource mandated by the college to be available to
more digital options for students - the college was CCC students. A ll instructors are supposed to have
very focused on low -cost textbooks for students, so a copy o f their class’ text available in their office, or
we’re continuing to support th a t,” bookstore director on reserve for the term in the library for students to
Carol DeSau said.
access outside o f class tim e.
Students, however, have expressed a different
sentiment about the prices in the bookstore combined
with the yearly tuition raise.
. “ There are a few classes I really wanted to explore
and take so badly, I was ju st too afraid I cou ld n’ t
afford it,” Daisy Saucedo said. “ Before classes started
I checked online for what books I heeded and it said I
only needed one. However, in my first week I had to
go buy a bunch of books which was super upsetting
for m y w allet.”
C C C librarian Jan e Littlefield and m any faculty
members requested to read the contract to see what
changes would be made on campus.
“ There’s language in here about exclusivity clauses
of what Barnes & Noble basically dictates, what faculty
can and cannot put on their Moodle sites regarding
where students would be purchasing their textbooks
from . To a lot o f us it read as Barnes & Noble gets
to say w h aty o u can and can ’ t tell your stud ents,”
Littlefield said.
Littlefield said students and instructors have options
outside of the bookstore including Open Educational
Resources, and services offered in the CCC library such
as their Course Reserve option. Open Educational
Resources are textbooks, vid eos, w orkbooks and
more - m aterials students are paying for codes to
access can be found for free online. Open Educational
Resources are created by scholars, academics, teachers New Barnes & Noble products including children’s
books have^taken the place of the old bookstore
and researchers w ith open copyrights specifically backpack wall.
Photos by SummerBarraza
“ CCC’s bookstore w ill now become a money-generating line
item fo r the College. It is very icky-feeling because o f where
this money is likely coming fr o m - prim arily students’ pocket
books, because students use the bookstore the most. Students
have a rig h t to know that, ¡also advocate that students have a
rig h t to know about textbook and course material purchasing
alternatives.”
¿ 5 CCC Librarian, Jane Littlefield
CCC students rely heavily on the bookstore and expect the
school to offer cost-effective materials for the courses they take.
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