The Telescope

Issue Date: 12/10/07

Palomar students search for answers from bookstore

By Breanna Harrison

Media Credit: Phyllis Celmer Palomar College bookstore employee Prawet Vongtawan completes a transaction with Lauren Jimenez, an Aviation major during the final week of classes.

With the spring semester a little more than a month away, the issue of hunting down much-needed textbooks at Palomar College will soon come to the forefront once again.

Many students have had trouble finding textbooks at the Palomar bookstore.

It's either sold out or just not available at all. While many of the books can be ordered through the bookstore, it may take weeks for them to arrive.

Palomar student Stephanie Bowker said she has had to order textbooks at the store because they didn't have it, but she doesn't believe they would be able to improve their service. She said they always have the textbooks she needs at the Off Campus bookstore.

Student Derric Cordova said he has also had to order textbooks because they have been sold out, but it's never been a disaster.

"I usually try not to go in there as much 'cause it's always crowded," Cordova said. He said his only problem is at the beginning of the semester the lines take too long.

The bookstore has had a contract with the bookstore provider Follett Higher Education Group since 1999. This contract also does not allow bookstore employees to do interviews, said the Palomar campus bookstore manager Jim Crockett.

Follett Higher Education Group is a family-owned company that has been operating for 133 years and manages more than 750 bookstores nationwide including Palomar.

African American Studies teacher Paula Johnson had to reorder a textbook for her class because the book apparently had sold out before the semester started.

"The email I got was that they bought all the books they could and there wasn't gonna be enough in time for the semester," Johnson said. "They had 30 books and sold out of them."

The required text that was ordered again didn't arrive in the bookstore for two weeks after this semester had already started, Johnson said it might have taken so long because the books were ordered a week before school started, she said.

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