by Adam West
Over the summer, Centre College decided to move its bookstore from its in town location to Sutcliffe, with varied success.
Even though many students knew that the Bookstore would be moving to Sutcliffe, not everyone realized that the Bookstore wouldn’t still have their books in store and would instead have them at a warehouse. To be fair, this transition from being in-person books to a hybrid model was communicated through email, but many of the emails went unread or weren’t understood by the students. Books would arrive in three-to-five business days. Students had to order their books online and many were forced to order them during the first days of class so they wouldn’t get behind. Lots of students were left in a panic and didn’t have their books when they needed them for classes in the opening week of classes. Students who transferred classes were even further behind, since they had to wait for their books to come in due to delivery delays. Some books didn’t arrive in the three-to-five business days, and then were ultimately refunded days later, meaning that some classes ended up without a vital textbook.
The room that the bookstore moved into had been named John and Susie Roush Champions Leadership Suite, although is more colloquially known as Champions Room. Champions Room has hosted everything, from staff meetings to team film sessions, parent gatherings to recruiting functions. However, the amount of usage has declined recently, and athletics had only been using the room for meetings and promotional videos. Besides, there are other spaces on campus that can be used for meetings and recruiting functions. It should be noted that this move is temporary, although for how long is unknown.
The Centre bookstore has been in the same building for twenty one years, although had been located in places like the ODI house and Old Carnegie before that. This move has affected not just the bookstore but businesses in town too. The Hub has seen a stark decrease in student customers. It used to be a major student hangout spot, but now its importance in the Centre community and the health of its business has been threatened by the moving of the bookstore.
As for the bookstore, they are happy to be back on campus and have been able to see people they haven’t seen in years. This new location has made the Bookstore more accessible to Centre students and faculty, as well as visiting alumni and prospective students. This move meant that a smaller space had to store what the bookstore had, and Follett moved to a “hybrid purchasing model for books and course materials.” This model, though, involves a warehouse in several other states, and professors being left in the dark about their course materials. This has forced professors to either photocopy hundreds of pages of course materials to Moodle, or change their course curriculum after classes have started. For example, Appalachian Literature had a book delayed and ultimately refunded, causing students to have to get the book late, or through other sites like Amazon or just from the internet.
Overall, the change in location has proven controversial. It has provided a more convenient space on campus for students to purchase anything they need- besides their textbooks, of course. It has caused problems for businesses like the Hub, but the room on campus is more convenient and accessible for students who can’t just head into town for some nice Centre swag. Finally, the move to a hybrid system instead of just having books in store has delayed when students are able to get their textbooks.
Only time will tell if this was the right decision for Centre.