Barnes & Noble College Booksellers will replace former vendor Follett Bookstores this spring for the Alamo Colleges District in Texas, which includes Northeast Lakeview College, Northwest Vista College, Palo Alto College, St. Philip's College and San Antonio College. In preparation, all Alamo Colleges bookstores will be renovated and hire 20-25 students.
Last May, the Alamo Colleges District awarded a contract to B&N College, the Ranger reported, adding that in a September 21 meeting, the Alamo Colleges board of trustees "amended the initial contract and named their changes the First Day Complete Model. The biggest change the board made was adding a free textbook program through summer."
In addition, the new contract states that B&N will award up to $50,000 annually in scholarships and forgo commission from course materials. The company will incur all distribution costs, including warehousing and mailing books to students. The district will receive a 40% discount on textbooks. The Ranger noted that B&N's "initial contract awarded the sales of textbooks and instructional materials, a 3% sales commission on gross sales, 12% commission on any general merchandise sale and the bookseller’s scholarship limit was $10,000."