The Book Center plans for renovations

The Book Center will be renovated, but exactly when those renovations will begin, how long they… The Book Center will be renovated, but exactly when those renovations will begin, how long they will take and where The Book Center will be housed during renovation is still unclear.

Debra Fyock, the interim director of The Book Center, said that renovations were supposed to begin next semester, but have been pushed back to the summer partly because she is waiting for student input on the plans. An exact start date has not yet been set.

“The Book Center renovation is in the planning and schematic design phase, and there is really not much substantive information to report at the moment,” Fyock said in an email.

Fyock said The Book Center will definitely be housed in a new location while the renovations are taking place, and that they are currently looking at a variety of on-campus locations. She said she hopes to see renovations completed by the start of next fall semester.

In mid-October, a poster with the floor plan for the store’s new look sat in front of one of the help desks. Within a few days, the plans quickly changed and Fyock took it down to make revisions. But those changes are not set in stone.

Some of the new additions planned so far include a technology center that provides multimedia products and services to students, similar to the current center in Bellefield, along with a coffee shop and an elevator.

Fyock would not release additional details at this time because the floor plans “are constantly changing” but said that she will provide more information as it becomes available.

Although The Book Center will undergo big changes, students will still be able to purchase new and used books, eBooks and rental books. University students, faculty and staff will still get the 10 percent discount on general reading books.

Guaranteed buyback on select textbooks will continue during the renovations.

Fyock currently is working to prepare for the changes to The Book Center and get the necessary information out to students through a new website that is being developed for the store.

And despite the lack of concrete information on the renovations, Fyock does know what she definitely wants for The Book Center.

“We know that we want a Book Center that is relevant— responding to the academic and lifestyle requirements of the University community,” she said.