Campus Bookstore Renovations Aim to Create ‘Social Hub’

Campus Life – UConn Today


The most dramatic transformation students will notice when they return to Storrs this fall will not be among the many building construction projects making progress throughout the summer of 2017. It will be the renovations to the 45,000 square-foot UConn Bookstore in the center of campus.
In addition to a new entrance from the outdoor seating area along Hillside Road and a full-service Starbucks café, the UConn Bookstore will feature a comfortable public seating area of 3,000 square feet on the second floor overlooking Gampel Pavilion and the future site of the new Student Recreation Center, accessible directly via a new stairway.

Len Oser, general manager of The UConn Bookstores, says the changes – at a cost of $3 million, to be paid for by Barnes & Noble – aim to make the bookstore a gathering place for students, faculty, alumni, and visitors.
“We want this to be a much more exciting and engaging social hub,” says Oser. “It will be a place you’ll want to come to not just before a basketball game, but to have a cup of coffee or meet a friend. It will be a world-class bookstore with all the amenities, and be a great place to hang out, meet friends, and do some work.”
The first floor of the renovated UConn Bookstore will have a more open look, with the removal of the glass wall near the entrance at the corner of Hillside Road and Jim Calhoun Way. This also will provide additional seating at the new Starbucks café. An Apple Store, with computer purchase and repair services, and UConn branded clothing and gifts, will be located on the first floor. New graphics on the first floor will focus on the UConn brand, Husky spirit, and various photos of students and student-athletes from various sports.
Oser says with students increasingly ordering textbooks online or in a digital format, less floor space ...

Read More