In June of 2020, Barnes and Noble gained control of Idaho State University’s bookstore, which was previously run by Follett Corp. The switch in ownership was supposed to provide a wider selection of textbooks to students at a lower cost and more designs in apparel, but it seems that a lot of students aren’t happy with the switch. The Bengal Newspaper interviewed students around campus about their experience with the campus bookstore and found that most students were much more likely to use the campus bookstore when it was previously run by Follett Corp. The switch in ownership was supposed to provide a larger selection of textbooks at more reasonable prices to students. However, that isn’t what students have been seeing.
“I’ve seen the cost of some items increase since Barnes and Noble took over,” graduate student Jake Shields said in an interview.
The goal of bringing Barnes and Noble on campus to run the university bookstore was to make the cost of textbooks and supplies more accessible, not less affordable. The change seems to be having the opposite effect as desired. Jake’s sentiments seem to be felt by others across campus.
“They’re scamming us out of a lot more money,” Katrina Roberts, a management senior remarked. “Books were a lot cheaper,” she said when asked what the university bookstore was like when it was previously managed by Follett Corp.
She went on to say that
after the switch, she stopped buying her textbooks at the bookstore and now turns completely to outside sources.
Audrey Hernandez, a robotics engineering sophomore, remarked that she also has been prompted to turn elsewhere for textbooks since the switch.
“Everything’s so pricey that I just go purchase [my textbooks] somewhere else,” she said in an interview with the Bengal Newspaper.
Turning to sources outside of the campus bookstore provides its own challenges. Students have had difficulty verifying the correct edition of textbooks courses required when purchasing through third-party sources, and textbooks don’t always arrive on time. However, students have recently been
having a host of issues getting their textbooks before classes start from the campus bookstore as well. “I had a few [textbooks] not arrive in time, and I had to cancel them,” Katrina said. Students also expressed frustration with the university-branded designs printed on clothing and other items. “There’s no diversity in the designs. They’re all the same,” Lynnea Dale, a senior, said in an interview with the Bengal Newspaper. She went on to say she preferred the designs before Barnes and Noble took over control of the bookstore. It seems even the environment of the bookstore has changed since Barnes and Noble has taken control.
“The bookstore itself looked and felt a lot better,” Katrina said of the environment when the
university bookstore was run by Follett Corp. “People that work there now just don’t seem as happy.”
The shift of environment seems to
have been impacting the customer service as well.
“Sometimes when I go in there, it seems like nobody is working in [the bookstore],” MacKenzie Gustavson, a second-year student said when The Bengal Newspaper staff talked with her.
“I don’t really get a lot of help.”
The change that was meant to lower the cost of textbooks and bring more diversity to the designs offered hasn’t seemed to be effective. After talking with students around campus, it seems like they were far more likely to utilize the campus bookstore before Barnes and Noble took control.
What is the position of the bookstore management and staff on this issue?