Starting in fall 2015, Mary Baldwin University students can shop for textbooks and course materials and place orders anytime, anywhere through a mobile optimized online bookstore and marketplace.
The college is announcing a new partnership with Akademos, Inc., a leader in providing affordable textbooks and digital learning tools for schools.
“We are confident that Akademos’ online bookstore platform is the right choice to connect Mary Baldwin students with the course materials they need to thrive academically,” said Carey Usher, associate professor of sociology, associate dean of the college and faculty director of the first-year experience. “Students will get the right textbooks, at the most competitive prices, and on time.”
Students will be able to order course materials through the new school-sanctioned online bookstore and seamlessly choose between new, used, marketplace, rental, and eBook options, dramatically expanding their access to lower-cost textbooks. At the end of each term students will have the option to sell back their textbooks through the Akademos peer-to-peer marketplace to recoup some of their cost.
“I am pleased to welcome Mary Baldwin University to Akademos and look forward to teaming with students, faculty, and administrators to lower the cost of course materials, to enhance textbook adoption efficiencies, and ultimately to achieve our mutual goal of improving learning outcomes for students,” said Akademos Chief Executive Officer John Squires. “Our solution will encourage students to use the school-sanctioned bookstore website by offering competitively priced textbooks and a mobile-optimized easy-to-use shopping experience.”
The online bookstore will also give students, parents, alumni, and others a way to order apparel and other Mary Baldwin-branded merchandise on the go. The move allows Mary Baldwin to close the bookstore in Pannill Student Center and open a new retail space in the heart of campus. The space will be constructed inside the Nuthouse in Hunt Dining Hall.
Shifting the bookstore space from Pannill to Hunt also opens up much-needed interim office space for the College of Education.
More information about the online textbook offering will be available throughout the summer.