The layout and look of the bookstore before the change. Photo by Jonathan Villagomez.

Clackamas Community College is bringing changes to the bookstores early this fall term with a partnership from Barnes & Noble. The deal is the first out of any community college in Oregon.
Barnes & Noble is on the Oregon City campus on May 23 from 2- 4 p.m. in the McLoughlin Auditorium, room 121, for a “college-wide bookstore learning experience,” said Alissa Mahar, CCC’s vice president of college services.
The partnership will be a remodelling of both the way the bookstores operate and the physical bookstores themselves.
Mahar and David Plotkin, Vice President of Student Instruction and Services, have been heading the initiative with the main focus on reducing student costs, Mahar said.
Barnes & Noble College (B&N College) is a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble Education, which currently serves over 5 million students and faculty members, operating on 782 campuses worldwide, according to the B&Nw College website.
B&N College is partnered with seven Oregon colleges, including Lewis & Clark College, Pacific University and University of Portland.
CCC hopes to make the process of finding and buying textbooks and supplies more streamlined and inexpensive for students and instructors.
Over the past year, CCC researched three different models of operation: a full-service bookstore operation, a hybrid combining CCC stores with online textbook sales and a support model providing the bookstores with operations advice.
After meeting with faculty and the Associated Student Government, CCC decided on the full-service model partnering with B&N College.
B&N College is hoping to make the bookstores inviting and a place to hang out socially, and they offer a managerial training program for CCC students with a track record of hiring students from resident colleges, according to an email sent to all CCC staff.
CCC is transitioning to the new bookstores this summer and students will be able to make purchases through the CCC bookstore and website.