RIT bookstore moves online

This year will mark the beginning of RIT’s partnership with Akademos to create a new, virtual bookstore. The new website will allow students to find the best prices for the materials for each of their classes and can ship materials directly to them.

RIT’s Bookstore of the Future Team surveyed students, faculty, and other college representatives to assess how to best meet students’ needs. They found that most students’ biggest priority was price and that many were already purchasing their materials online through other sellers. According to the team, these results informed RIT’s decision to move to this new virtual bookstore.

The virtual bookstore connects with RIT’s secure login. This allows the site to see which classes the student is enrolled in and which materials that class requires or recommends. The site will show a variety of options for purchasing or renting the materials from different sellers, including third parties like Amazon, allowing students to compare prices and modalities. 

Instead of requiring that students pick up their materials from a specific location, the virtual bookstore will ship materials directly to the students. Students who live on campus will receive their materials through campus post offices at Nathaniel Rochester Hall and Global Village, and students living off campus will receive their materials through their regular mail carriers.

The online bookstore also includes an eLibrary shelf that allows students to access all of their ebooks and other electronic materials in one place. 

Other products that were sold at the former Barnes and Noble bookstore location will move on campus. The new Campus Store will open in the Digital Den in Monroe Hall near the center of campus and will sell logoed merchandise, as well as a small selection of school supplies. The school supplies in the store will include popular basic items needed by many students, but will also be available through the website.

The virtual bookstore can be accessed online.