The State of South Carolina awarded Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc. a contract for management and operation of the College of Charleston Bookstore at 160 Calhoun St. 

The transition from Follett Higher Education Group, the current management group, to Barnes & Noble will occur the first week of January. The contract runs through the end of January 2017.

CisternYard.com obtained documents used in the bidding process, which describe some terms of the arrangement. Through the deal, the College of Charleston will be paid $525,000 or 12 percent of all gross sales up to $6,675,000 and 13.5 percent of all gross sales over $6,675,000, whichever is greater, according to the terms of the State's solicitation.

The Bookstore, with 2008 gross revenue of $5,499,321, will largely operate as it is today. The documents do lay out expectations for Barnes & Noble.

Among those expectations, the Bookstore will stock all required, recommended and suggested course texts, whether new or used, as dictated by the faculty. The Bookstore will also stock other educational materials, supplies, and soft goods (CofC branded apparel and other items). In addition, trade and general books will also be stocked.

The plan also dictates specific pricing requirements. New textbooks will be sold at prices no higher than the publisher's list price. Used textbooks will be sold at 25 percent less than new textbook prices. Barnes & Noble will also be required to develop and maintain a textbook price guarantee that ensures the College's Bookstore will meet or be lower than other local vendors.

The book buy back system will remain largely unchanged. Barnes & Noble will operate a continuous buy back program at 50 percent of the purchase price.

The College's Bookstore supports the downtown and north area campus, as well as the small international campus at Trujillo, Spain.

The Bookstore is housed in approximately 10,500 square feet of floor space, comprised of sales, office and storage space. The arrangement also includes the possibility for a satellite location in the Carolina First Arena on Meeting St.

Vote in our poll! Are you looking forward to the changes at CofC's Bookstore?