Clackamas Community College recently signed a contract to outsource their campus store to Barnes & Noble Education, and Lane Community College’s Board of Education approved the outsourcing of its bookstore despite community objections. Meggie Wright, OER Librarian, Lane Community College, and Colleen Sanders, Reference Librarian, Clackamas Community College, share their experience with outsourcing negotiations at their colleges. This webinar offers firsthand insight into some of the problems uncovered by outsourcing, including the incompatibility of the missions of community colleges and for-profit companies; the unsustainability of operating a core student service on a self-support revenue model; and the potential for “openwashing” products that may present academic freedom, accessibility, and student data privacy issues.
Further reading:
- Searchable PDF of CCC B&N contract
- Participating Oregon Community Colleges (POCC) Procurement Group
- Meggie’s bookstore advocacy documents
- On Outsourcing Community College Bookstores: A Position Statement
- Affordable Textbooks and Independent College Stores
- A Barnes & Noble Experience
- Let Us Get You Into College: Community College Librarians, Barnes & Noble, and OER
