The bookstores at Cosumnes River College (CRC) and Folsom Lake College (FLC) will be closing and transitioning online starting July 1. Students at Sacramento City College will have access to their bookstore as it will remain open.
City College Public Information Officer Crystal Lee said the local changes stem from larger changes in the industry itself.
“This shift was prompted by significant changes in the collegiate bookstore industry that have lessened the demand for brick-and-mortar stores. A combination of factors, including competition from online stores like Amazon, the expansion of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) courses to make education more affordable, and a growing remote-learning student population contributed to this decision,” wrote Lee in an email to students on Feb. 10, announcing the change.
In addition to these closures, all Los Rios Community College District online bookstores will switch from Follet Bookstore to Barnes and Noble College.
Since 2021, the use of OER and ZTC courses has expanded across all California community colleges, including the four colleges in the Los Rios district in a statewide effort to reduce the cost of education and, “eliminate textbook costs as a barrier to equitable participation and timely completion.” While increasing affordability, these changes present challenges for the college bookstore industry.
According to the Board of Trustee’s meeting on the Los Rios bookstores, the transition from Follett to Barnes and Noble College is expected to “address these dynamics and modernize services,” while providing affordable options for students, improving the shopping experience and making textbooks easier to access.
“In the end, the student experience should be similar — or even better — for the majority of students. Most students are already ordering their books or materials online. Students at CRC and FLC will be able to buy books online, buy them online and have them delivered to their campus, or visit one of the in-person stores at ARC or SCC. CRC and FLC will also have temporary pop-up stores during peak periods to buy materials and supplies,” Los Rios chief strategy and communications officer Gabe Ross wrote in an email.
Barnes and Noble Education and Follett operate most college bookstores. Announcing new partnerships in a press release on May 12, 2025, Barnes and Noble Education emphasized the affordability and wide variety of textbooks available with Barnes and Noble College, but there are still some concerns of affordability and financial practices.
In “How Wall Street Broke The College Bookstore” investigative reporter Katya Schwenk reported some activists and critics like Nicole Allen, director of open education for the open education advocacy non-profit Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) doubt the commitment to affordability and students’ savings on textbook costs considering the automatic billing program Barnes and Noble Education employs.
Despite these concerns, changes to the Los Rios bookstores follow the changing shape of the college bookstore and were bound to happen.
“The continuing student demand for online classes and ordering books online, combined with the increase in free online instructional materials in Los Rios classes, have made the old model not viable for bookstore vendors. Ultimately, the choice wasn’t between having four bookstores or having two bookstores … it was between having two bookstores or having zero bookstores,” Ross wrote.
Yvette Lepe, a radio, television and film (RTVF) student who has taken classes at both SCC and CRC said she has mixed feelings about the bookstore closing. “I’ve gone only three times, so it kind of sucks since I’ve gone for last minute things that I really needed, which was a big help,” Lepe said.
The closure leaves an empty space on campus, both for the needs of students and physically. What was the Hawk’s nest bookstore at CRC will become a Hawk Cares center for students’ basic needs, while FLC is still deciding on the best use for the space.
The closure of the CRC and ARC bookstores was announced Sept. 25 2025 after the Follett management contract expired. In a Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 18, 2026, the Barnes and Noble Education contract was recommended for award. The Board of Trustees voted on the contract in their March 11 meeting and the transition is expected to begin this July 1 and remain until June 30, 2031.
