- 303 Haggar College Center
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4579 - Director of Media Relations
Gwen O'Brien
gobrien@saintmarys.edu
Follett Higher Education Group to Manage Bookstore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Follett Higher Education Group to Manage College Bookstore Operations
Media contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Ind.
(574) 284-4579
THE BOOKSTORE PHONE NUMBER IS (574) 284-4719.
August 23, 2010 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary's College announced today that Follett Higher Education Group will take over the operation the Shaheen Bookstore, effective October 20. Up until now the College has managed the store. The relationship will offer more choices for students, most notably, the option to rent textbooks. Follett’s Rent-A-Text option, available to Saint Mary’s for the spring 2011 semester, could save students up to 50% on books.
“Follett is in an ideal position to leverage its experience and market presence to meet the needs of our students and faculty – bringing the best to our bookstore operation,” said Richard Speller, vice president for finance. “We are very confident that selecting Follett to operate our bookstore is the best choice for our campus and community – it will bring new services and better selection.”
Follett services more than 1,600 independent campus stores with its wholesale services, and has the most visited e-commerce collegiate website, www.efollett.com, that provides services and products through a network of more than 900 campus stores. It is the leading provider of bookstore services and supplier of used books in North America. The company serves five million students and over 400,000 faculty members through its stores. The University of Notre Dame and Holy Cross College are among the institutions that depend on Follett to operate their campus bookstores.
“Follett is proud to have Saint Mary’s college as our newest partner,” said Tom Christopher, president of Follett. “Together, we can make the Shaheen Bookstore the chief resource to students and the entire Saint Mary’s community. In an evolving higher education marketplace, we look forward to providing cost-saving solutions and new programs.”
Bookstore customers may not notice much change until after winter break. When students return to campus in January, they will find that the store, located in the Student Center, is more spacious, with better traffic flow. Follett will pay for renovations to the Student Center, which includes expanding into space now occupied by the C-Store (convenience store). Over fall break in mid-October, the C-Store will move into the dining area of the Cyber Café, located west of the bookstore entrance. Tables and chairs will be added to the Student Center Atrium and Lounge to accommodate customers. Sodexo, the food-service provider at Saint Mary's, will take over management of the C-Store, which the College has operated.
“I think students will be happy with many of the upcoming changes to the Student Center, which include expanding the hours of the café and convenience store to midnight. The Student Center is their space, and we want them to feel at home in it,” said Karen Johnson, vice president of student affairs.
Follett has retained Saint Mary’s Mike Hicks as the bookstore manager. The company will interview existing staff for positions in the bookstore as it takes over operations.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” for 2011 published by U.S.News & World Report. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
