A new chapter for the campus bookstore?

The campus bookstore may be beginning a new chapter in the coming months. The Spectator staff has learned that the Chabot campus bookstore will possibly be contracted out to a private second party company to manage it in the near future. This comes as news that the bookstore will be pushing multiple cost savings textbook programs for students, such as digital distributions of textbooks and a rental program funded by the federal government. Bookstore manager Kathleen Kaser confirmed on Tuesday that district officials had notified her of their plan to change management of the store to private hands, much the way that Follet manages the bookstore at Los Positas College.

“We do a lot of extra things for the college that the college asks us to do.  If it does not make them money, another private company will not do it,” says Kaser. “There will be an impact on students and faculty, because of the kind of service that we provide. And that will be the difference between us and a contractor.”

The bookstore has been independently run by district employees since the founding of the college. In its lifetime, the store has been very student-oriented in providing the best available service for students. However, Kaser says, the bookstore has lost money in the past two years. Last fiscal year the operating loss was $46,000. A plan to break even before the end of the year is being worked out, Kaser said.

The plan to privatize Chabot’s operation was put in place by officials at the district level. Inquiries made to district offices were then referred Wednesday to college President Celia Barberena.
Gregory Correa, the Maintenance Technician and Service Employees International Union Chapter Secretary of the Chabot-Las Positas district is concerned about the situation.

“(The) District was gracious enough to give us heads up,” said Correa. “I was taken aback, my process of thought was thinking of all the union members this will affect at the bookstore,” said Correa. Chabot’s store employs 12 people, 9 of them are full-time.

“We would like to explore the possibility of having a company with experience that can bring in some talents that we may not have. That can help us provide a quality service to our students,” says President Barberena.

However, Barberena assured that all employees at the bookstore will maintain their same benefits and wages they held as college district employees if a new management company takes control. Correa thinks otherwise. He said he’s seen this scenario play out before in the past. All district employees were gone within eight months under the new management.

Barberena continued, “At Chabot we have not had an outside company run this, we are exploring the possibility right now. We do have experience with an outside vendor running our food services and that has been a good experience,” Barberena said.

While privatization is in the beginning talks, a request for proposals from private management companies need to be sent out before any heavy consideration. The board could vote to send them as early as December, and companies interested would be able to send in their responses to these proposals as early as February. By mid-summer next year, a new management company could be in place.

Barberena added that the idea is only being explored and has been for quite a while.

“I want what is best for our students,” said Barberena. If there are some efficiencies and outside talent that makes our bookstore run better for the sake of our students, if we have an outside vendor, then I think that’s what we should do. But I think we should have an open mind.”