The completion of Breuninger Hall won't be the only change Taylor students return to this fall. Starting August 1, Tree of Life Bookstores will take over management of the campus store, a change that could result in savings on textbooks.
The process began last semester when Ron Sutherland, vice president of business administration, met with a committee of faculty, students and admissions and athletics personnel to assess the history of the bookstore, its circumstances now and what it might look like for a third party to take over, as compared to Taylor continuing to run it internally.
"There use to be a day where you could more simply organize how you did the bookstore, and those days are gone," Sutherland said. "It's a much more complicated process and (something) you have to be better at when you buy because you're competing with online sales."
The final decision was made by Sutherland and the university cabinet in mid-June to move ahead with Tree of Life.
When students return this fall, the bookstore will be operated by Tree of Life but not branded by the company. Neither will the company try and set up a retail book business like they have at their stores.
"It's kind of like our food service, where Creative Dining is the food service but it's Taylor's dining commons," Sutherland said. "(Tree of Life is) operating it, but it's Taylor's campus store."
Sutherland recognizes three main advantages to Tree of Life running the store. The first is the company's expertise in purchasing textbooks, a benefit that ensures Taylor will no longer need a person on staff handle those sales demands. An added benefit of Tree of Life's textbook sales is the company's ability to provide textbook options that were previously unavailable.
Tree of Life is also able to incorporate services and ideas that have worked well at other schools into its management at Taylor's campus store.
The final benefit is to alleviate the removal of the extra task load the bookstore operation formerly placed on university administrators.
Visible changes at the store will be limited in the fall and grow as spring rolls around.
Although staff positions at the store may be organized differently, Tree of Life may be able to rehire many of the current employees. The new manager has been selected and will join Taylor's campus store in time for the new school year. In the meantime, the vice president of retail operations will cover the store for the first two weeks of August.
Students will find many of the same items available in the store, but new brands and merchandise will be available in the spring as Tree of Life completes the transition.
The greatest change Taylor students will notice is availability of many more book rentals. Ninety percent of books will be available for rent compared to 40 percent previously, lowering textbook costs for students who want to rent their books.
"And if a student rents a book and decides they want to keep it, they will just be billed the difference," Sutherland said. "It takes less cash out of the student's pocket up front, and then they don't have to go into the hassle of waiting in line to sell it back and get a different price at a later point.
Sutherland anticipates the campus store being relocated to the new campus center in the next five years.
