Collegian

As a revenue center for LCCC and a central school supply source, the Bookstore needs more space. 

The careful job of fitting all the resources needed for the college's expanding academic menu of programs and the needs of a growing student enrollment is done within a double L shaped, squared out, glassed in corner in College Center. 

When Keith McCann, Bookstore Manager, came on board at the campus about three years ago, he said that the cubby hole locker facilities were located inside the store.  But the volume of sales at the Bookstore has expanded by 20 percent, according to McCann.  So to, has the selection of merchandise.

With his 4,000 square feet of retail space, McCann said, he does about five million dollars worth of sales each year.

Among the carefully stocked, but tightly spaced shelves and displays, there is a noted absence of most art supplies. Because of the limit of space, art students must get their supplies through other outlets, according to McCann.

To make room for the all his merchandise, McCann has placed the cubbyhole locker facilities outside the store.  This has created another problem for McCann. Students are not permitted to bring book bags within the store, and must leave them outside on the tables or on cubbyhole locker facilities. 

During the peak times of book sales, the beginning and last weeks of each semester, McCann has a security guard or a member of his staff posted at the door to keep an eye on students' belongings.

According to Keith Brown, head of campus security, there have been about five to 10 reported thefts of books or other items from near the bookstore. He also said that all but two were solved.  

New space in the Bookstore would allow space for a book bag check system, McCann said. A student could simply drop off their backpack at the check point and get a ticket or a number, and shop in the store without worry.

McCann has the job of deciding what and how much merchandise the store can sell, but he's not the only one. 

One quarter in enrollment and bookstore size in comparison to LCCC, the Bowling Green University - Firelands Campus, is located just west of Huron.  The enrollment for the past fall was around 2,000 students, and is expected to grow.

Bonnie Lindsley is the manager of the BGSU - Firelands Bookstore. Daily mid-semester sales there average about 100 transactions, and peaks around 700 on the first days of each semester, according to Lindsley.

 The two stores have similar policies about book bags being left outside the store.  But because of its small size, Lindsley can watch the students' book bags through the window of her office, just behind the check out stand.

With the growing enrollment and expanding program offerings, she also has the juggle of fitting in more merchandise in a very limited amount of space.

Expansion in the number of students expanding their minds to the possibilities of an educated future requires a bookstore to match.  McCann has the ideas, now all he needs is the space.

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