Signs directing students to the temporary Campus Bookstore may not be needed much longer.
Most students are used to the fact that a trip to the bookstore this semester means heading to the Activities Center, where the store is temporarily located during campus-wide construction.
Now that the initial frenzy of back-to-school shopping has died down, bookstore traffic has eased up considerably.
“It has gotten a lot less hectic,” Kirk Oronan, 24, chemistry major, said. “It’s a lot less crowded with fewer students in there.”
Students move swiftly through the zig-zag waiting line that Oroman once stood in for 20-30 minutes during the first week of classes.
Shoppers also no longer have to navigate through compact and unfamiliar aisles to find textbooks. To reduce theft, bookstore employees wearing blue “I can help you” T-shirts stand behind roped off aisles, greeting approaching students and fetching textbooks for them.
“They go right for your books and bring them to you,” Oroman said. “I like it.”
Employees reported four shoplifting incidents so far this semester, which averaged about the same as previous semesters at the permanent location, according to Bookstore Director Julie Bourlier.
“Shoplifting is always an issue,” Bourlier said. “It always has been. It always will be. Especially as prices of textbooks increase.”
Despite some initial confusion arising from the store’s temporary relocation, business is pretty much back to usual this semester, according to Bourlier.
Early semester shopping hassles caused by long lines and throngs of shoppers are typical the first couple weeks of every semester, whether at a temporary or permanent location, according to Bourlier. She suggested that students who do not want to bother with crowds next semester have the option of purchasing books at the online bookstore.
Students can log onto the online bookstore website, elcamino.collegestoreonline.com, where they can search for textbooks and prices, and order with the click of a button. Students also have the option of picking books up at the bookstore or having them shipped at an additional cost.
Those who like to buy books the old-fashioned way should make their purchases during the two weeks before the semester begins in order to avoid lines and crowds, according to Bourlier.
The bookstore will return to its permanent location on the northwest side of campus below the cafeteria in December, provided construction stays on schedule.
“The other store had so much space,” sophomore Michelle Ferguson, nursing major, said. “Here it seems too cramped and confusing. I will be happy when the bookstore is back at its old location.”