The IUS Bookstore owner, Barnes & Noble, made the announcement they will be exploring the option of selling their company.

Barnes & Noble released a statement saying, due to falling stock, the board is considering all options, including a possible sale.

Barnes & Noble not only is the largest book retailer, owning 720 namesake bookstores across the nation but is also the owner of the IUS Bookstore.

Mary Keating, senior vice president of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, said the company’s announcement of exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, doesn’t have any impact on the IUS Bookstore.

Last semester, Barnes & Noble also released news of a new textbook rental program designed to save students and their families money on the high cost of college textbooks.

Barnes & Noble introduced the rental program in January, becoming the first major textbook retailer to offer such a program. The rental program exceeded the company’s expectation, so they extended the program in time for the fall semester.

Barnes & Noble, the owner of 637 college bookstores across the United States, has made the rental program available for the fall semester.

Jaclyn Holland, IUS alumnae, said she wished the IUS Bookstore offered rental books six years ago.

“It would have saved me a lot of money considering that some of my most expensive books the bookstore didn’t buy back at the end of the semester,” Holland said.

Barnes & Noble also introduced NOOKstudy, a software application that offers e-textbooks, class materials and class notes that students will be able to update and make annotations and highlights to them.

The NOOKstudy will also offer students customizable options developed with the input from college students.

By JASON RUSSELL

Staff

jasoruss@ius.edu