USD faces the positives and negatives of new online bookstore
USD’s new bookstore vendor, Akademos, is up and running on campus, but the online-only bookstore has presented challenges in its replacement of former vendor Barnes & Noble.
The luxury of walking into the store and selecting books is no more, and students unaware of the change, announced last semester, are facing a delayed arrival of textbooks.
After Barnes and Noble’s contract finished, the physical bookstore was renovated and replaced by Charlie’s, USD’s merchandise store. Charlie’s isn’t responsible for textbook sales; the only books they hold are ones ordered online.
“Not every student was fully aware of the transition,” said Brittany Sage, manager of retail operations at Charlie’s. “We’ve had students come in expecting to purchase books in-store and we don’t physically have any textbooks here.”
Faculty, as well as students, are also still adapting to the departure of a physical bookstore in favor of an online platform, according to Scott Pohlson, Vice President of Enrollment.
“All transitions come with challenges,” Pohlson, said. “We are learning all of those challenges, like timing on when faculty needs to adopt books so that those books are ready and fulfilled online to be shipped here.”
Despite the hiccups, the change isn’t all bad. Students enjoy the new bookstore because it is similar to Amazon or other online retailers, only a percentage of each sale on Akademos funnels back to USD and the general scholarship fund, according to Pohlson. Profits from books bought outright from Amazon go straight to Amazon.
To purchase books, students can log in to usd.textbookx.com, find their listed course materials, and ship to either Charlie’s or a personal address.
“I think it is very easy,” sophomore student Kyle Zimmer said. “All of the books can be sent right to the bookstore so I don’t have to worry about if a book is going to come in. They keep in touch and it is really convenient.”
Books can be either bought or rented from the online bookstore, though students must pay to ship books both to and from their mailboxes if choosing to rent. Delivery within six to 20 days costs $5.95. Delivery within two to seven days costs $8.99
