B&N Buyout

Only time will tell if our new corporate overlords will rule benevolently or if they will squash us like bankrupt insects, despite the assurances of President Adam Herbert that Barnes and Noble Booksellers will provide equal or superior service and the outsourcing will have little if any negative impact on the University or the Bloomington community. \nThe bookstore might not have had the greatest selection of music or a children’s section, but what it lacked in (let’s face the facts) generally pointless amenities, it more than made up for in customer service and selection. That may not be the case after July 1, however, when all 16 of IU’s bookstores and their 200 employees on seven campuses are converted to the ways of Barnes and Noble Booksellers. \nHerbert – whose long-term concern in the University is slightly suspect given his quickly approaching departure date – made the decision after a task force fielded proposals from several bidders, including T.I.S. and the bookstore itself. The task force was headed by IU Vice President Terry Clapacs, who praised the deal as a brilliant compromise of interests for students, employees and the University as a whole. According to the contract, B&N is required to hire anyone currently working for the IU Bookstore. “No one is hurt,” Clapacs said at a Board of Trustees meeting last Friday. IU Student Association President Betsy Henke, who also served on the task force, concurred. \nWe, on the other hand, are not so sure. Though the Editorial Board has never explicitly condemned the outsourcing of other University operations, like the IU Motorpool or bus services, we have to oppose outsourcing the bookstore. There seems to be little if any guarantee from B&N or the IU administration that the problems at previous schools, like those at Harvard and Yale, will not be repeated when the company takes over operations. \nThough the B&N contract institutes a 25 percent profit cap on the sale of textbooks to prevent price gouging, it appears that the same will not apply to supplies like notebooks, folders and pens. A survey by the Brown University Daily Herald reported prices up to 26 percent higher on binders at B&N versus independent bookstores. Their conclusions mirrored those at Tufts University in Boston, among similar studies. So while textbook prices remain only unbearable, the cost of the related accoutrement, including IU apparel, is likely to skyrocket.\nAnother issue that went unresolved at Friday’s trustee meeting is a matter of supply. According to the Bloomington chapter of the Communication Workers of America, the large commercial bookstores have business models that discourage volume purchases, so under-ordering has been a chronic problem. \nGranted, there are benefits to the B&N contract, including $7.5 million in bonuses and a $1.4 million Varsity Shop/bus stop near Assembly Hall as part of the new athletics facilities. An $850,000 kickback that Herbert so tastefully referred to as “show-me-the-love money” just sweetened the deal. Still, at the risk of higher prices, decreased availability and slower service, is it worth selling out the bookstore? Well, at least there’ll be another coffee shops on campus.