Closing its doors one last time on a Thursday Afternoon, the Foothill Bookstore will transition completely online. For over a year, folks at the Academic Senate, ASFC, and a plethora of other groups got together to decide the fate of Foothill’s one and only bookstore. 

Ending this era for the Bookstore wasn’t all easy. For example, the Bookstore is the primary vendor for our campus’s merchandise: shirts, mugs, notebooks, etc. The store also sold plenty of necessary products that students need, such as scantrons. Where will it all go? There was also the issue of pick-ups; one of the clerks at the store told me how older folks, especially, might struggle, as she notes that she constantly gets emails for help regarding online orders. Also, they said that, “There are a lot of people who prefer just coming to a physical space.” 

Kayla Nguyen, president of the ASFC, even said they were contemplating bringing in vending machines to carry our scantrons. The current plan is that students can either order directly to their house or, if they don’t have a permanent address, they will be able to pick up supplies at the Welcome Center or Library. 

This problem has been developing for years. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bookstore was a wholly self-functioning entity, run entirely by Foothill, for Foothill. De Anza was the same, as Jayme Brown told me, a former coordinator there. However, by October 2021, the Foothill-De-Anza District got itself a new vendor, Follett, to help run the bookstore. From then on, the Foothill, as well as the De Anza, bookstores would be run by Follett. This was done, mainly because of the high upkeep of the store, costing too much for the district to run alone, as Brown told me. Leasing it out to a third party could increase efficiency. 

It became clear to the College that things had to change. In Oct 2024, a task force was created called the Bookstore Committee, which would essentially help determine the future of the bookstore. Brett Watson, the Vice President of Finance, chaired the Committee, with other members including Paulo Versoza, former president of the ASFC, and Joshua Chin, former Vice President of the Interclub Council. It is an enormous room, with tons of space. However, the bookstore simply remained empty for the majority of the year; therefore, Follett couldn’t afford to keep the bookstore running for long, relegating it to be open only from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Mondays to Thursdays. 

The committee deeply considered how to better utilize the bookstore’s space. One solution was to turn it into a more Barnes & Noble type shop, with some space dedicated for students to lounge. Another was to maybe add another K.J’s-esque service in the space. However, what ultimately won out was to transition the store completely online. 

Watson said two-thirds of all purchases from the bookstore were online. Mixed in with the store’s small hours, the Committee decided that it would be better to shift focus to the online store, while using the space for other purposes. 

What comes next? 

As the bookstore’s space becomes vacant, the question now is what would take its place? In this case, Foothill used the very common Resource Allocations Guidelines Process. Catalina Rodriguez, Dean of Student Affairs, explained, “requests are reviewed at the division dean level, discussed among leadership,” before being “ultimately forwarded to the President’s Cabinet, where the final determination is made. Various departments or units at Foothill can submit a request for what they’d like to see added. 

ASFC student input was also a part of the process. Nguyen noted how many staff came to present and suggest replacements for the store. “We had the Dean of Fine Arts, Ron Herman come in to suggest an art gallery,” and others made “suggestions of a career center.” Rodriguez recommended expanding the Owl’s Nest. “For several years students have expressed the need for expanded Basic Needs space,” she noted. “About 40 percent of college students experience housing and food insecurity.” 

The decisions have not been finalized just yet. The Executive Cabinet is not yet decided on what should be done with the space. However, it’s likely that the Owl’s Nest will most likely come to replace the physical space of the Bookstore. “Honestly [it’s] huge because now we can support more unhoused and food insecure students,” Nguyen said. “Being able to open up the space, we’re planning on having a drying washing unit for unhoused students and even nap pods. In that front space where all those high windows are would be a lounge space. If you look in the far back where all the shelves are, which are where the bookstore stuff currently resides, that would all be like where your groceries are and your pickup stuff.” 

When asked about its departure, Kathy Hallway, one of Foothill’s librarians, reminisced about the store, saying, “I think it’s a loss, really. It’s nice to have a physical store for students to go to and to have those resources. But I understand the financial realities that, you know, the bookstore faces and the economic efficiency of going online.”

Neri Guzman, our cartoonist at the Script, said “I’ve never used it,” when asked about his experience with the bookstore. When asked about turning it into a new space, Guzman said, “I think you’ll see a lot more students chill out there because it gets crowded like during lunch,

Regarding the Owl’s Nest, “More healthy snacks,” was what Dan said when asked about what could change about it now that space opened up. “I got a hot dog and cheese there — Like, you know, those small packaged dogs, with the blob of cheese.” Parker Learmonth said, “It’d be nice to give it a bigger space […] In the front there’s kind of a bottleneck, in the way it is organized, so, there’s like a couple of people standing there in the walkway, and you can’t get through.” 

After over a year in decision-making, the Bookstore will finally shut its doors one last time. Interestingly enough, De Anza’s bookstore will continue going, making books delivered to the Foothill Welcome Center more timely and efficient. Follett’s contract with Foothill and De Anza will still continue for the foreseeable future, until 2027. With time, students would likely see that the Welcome Center will hold most of the stock, particularly with regard to scantrons among other things, thanks to the efforts by Foothill College to notify students of the change. 

When I visited the bookstore on a Tuesday afternoon, I noticed heightened yet calm traffic, as students were scrambling to find any last minute sales. It was filled with textbooks, novels, pens, and other school supplies, while the shelves become increasingly bare.

We will miss you, bookstore! <3

Let us know what you think about the bookstore’s whole closure in the comments down below!