Bridgewater College announced today it will partner with Akademos Inc. – a leading provider of integrated online bookstores and marketplaces for educational institutions – to make textbooks fully available online.
All book purchasing operations for Bridgewater’s bookstore will be online starting with the summer 2014 session. Bridgewater will establish a virtual bookstore and will discontinue its contract with traditional bookstore provider Follett. While no textbooks will be sold in the physical space, which is located in the Kline Campus Center, the store will continue to offer apparel and other items.
Abbie Parkhurst, director of marketing and communications, said the college made the decision to move textbook purchases online because it will save students money, materials can be ordered in advance without students having to wait in line or experience last-minute sell-outs and the college will have better control over the quality, design and pricing of the items sold in its store.
“In many ways, Bridgewater is taking its cues and direction on this decision from the student body,” Parkhurst said. “Students are buying their textbooks online in growing numbers, and we want to meet students there and make the process as easy as possible for them.”
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,800 undergraduate students.
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