Ownership of the campus bookstore transitioned to Barnes & Noble this semester, but new store manager Brian Griffin says it still belongs to Bakersfield College and its students.

“The only changes were that Barnes & Noble, as the management company, helps to run the bookstore,” Griffin said. “We’re still the BC Bookstore.”

The store features an expanded staff to accommodate early semester traffic, as well as faster register systems that make for a more efficient checkout process.

Students had shorter wait times than in previous years and the usual start of the semester line around the bookstore was nowhere to be seen.

“We didn’t really have any problems with books being unavailable for students,” said Griffin. “Everything went pretty smooth.”

The merger with the retail bookstore giant has afforded student’s options and benefits not available under the previous operation.

This semester saw the arrival of the first textbook rental program offered at BC.

Griffin says many students took advantage of this option for its many perks.

“You rent your books for about 49 percent of the price of a new book, you get to write and highlight in it like it’s your own book, you just have to make sure there’s no water damage or missing pages, and bring it back at the end of the semester,” said Griffin.

The bookstore is in the planning stages of an interior remodel, tentatively scheduled to begin in October.

The remodel includes plans to reduce office space and move the location of the textbooks and cash registers.

“The store will be more setup where your textbooks are in the back half instead of it running diagonal like it does now. We’ll gain a little more space that way,” said Griffin. “We’ll have a marketplace area with chairs and tables where students can sit down and relax between classes like you’d see at a regular Barnes & Noble.”

Griffin says that students can expect to continue seeing upgrades to the bookstore under Barnes & Noble’s management.

“We always want to make things better and improve on our processes,” said Griffin.