Textbooks will be back for sale at the campus Bookstore starting spring 2026, college officials said.

The board of trustees voted to approve a full service contract during the Monday, Oct. 27 session with Barnes and Noble, which will expand the retailer’s presence at El Camino College.

Most textbooks will continue to be sold online, however professors can request that certain books are stocked by contacting the dean of library resources, who passes that request onto the Academic Senate and to the faculty.

Bridget Delahunt, who is serving as interim director of auxiliary services, said the contract will include three on-site Barnes and Noble staff members and customer support to help students order and return textbooks.

Board of trustees Vice President Nilo Vega Michelin asked if there was student feedback on whether online textbook sales were effective.

“Any time there’s transition or change, there’s always problems,” President Brenda Thames said, adding that the college has tried to address these issues. “I know that in The Union, students reported dissatisfaction.”

She added that the college serves up to 25,000 students.

“I don’t know that we have surveyed every single student and we don’t have any kind of concrete research,” she said.

From there, they will forward that request to Barnes and Noble, who will get the textbooks in stock.

Delahunt acknowledged problems students had trying to purchase their textbooks with vouchers.

She said during the meeting that as part of the contract, the ECC financial aid system will not be run through a point-of-sale system.

“We’re bringing customer support back to our students, back on campus, so that it doesn’t happen again,” she said.