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July 6, 2009
Barnes & Noble joins the campus

By David PAYNE

This fall, Emory enters into a new phase of management of its bookstore operations, and paves the way for the consolidation of bookstores into the new Oxford Road facility in 2010.

Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. will oversee Emory’s bookstore operations effective Oct. 1. The new vendor is a privately held sister company to Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation’s largest bookseller.

“Based on a review of their prior experiences, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers will serve faculty and students well with their range of services,” says Provost Earl Lewis. “Their experience will be particularly helpful as we look forward to the opening of Emory’s new bookstore on Oxford Road, which will house the largest academic bookstore selection in the Southeast.”

“As Emory looks ahead to its new bookstore complex, we intend to add more titles, extend operating hours and explore new ways to improve customer services,” says John Ford, senior vice president and dean for campus life. “We look forward to working in tandem with Barnes & Noble as we improve the overall customer experience for faculty and students, as well as the greater Emory community.”

When completed next spring, Emory’s new three-story bookstore facility will be a Barnes & Noble Collegiate Superstore with a significant increase in titles and bookstore space. Approximately 40,000 titles will be housed in the new 29,000-square-foot bookstore.

All student and academic bookstore services that are currently housed in the Dobbs University Center will transfer to the new bookstore next year. Emory’s medical school bookstore will also relocate to the new facility.

In addition to the bookstore complex, Emory’s new building on Oxford Road will house its undergraduate admissions office, a coffee shop and outdoor café, and a “green roof” promenade over a new parking deck. The building is being constructed in anticipation of achieving LEED Silver designation from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Barnes & Noble Collegiate Superstore was established in the late 1990s to better engage the surrounding campus and municipal communities in college activities and culture by serving as a hub or central gathering place. Barnes & Noble operates Collegiate Superstores on more than 30 campuses across the nation, including Georgia Tech’s bookstore in Midtown.