Baruch bookstore and café closure sparks student outrage

The Editorial Board

Plans to close the campus bookstore were announced during a USG senate session on Oct. 6. The Barnes & Noble location will instead move online and be accessible as Akadémos, an online bookstore.

The new website would connect to students’ Blackboard accounts, making it easier to find and order required texts, instead of picking them up in person.

One downside to this change, however, is that the physical location of the bookstore/cafe will be converted into a Baruch One Stop Shop center.

Currently, the campus bookstore is a site for students to get coffee in between classes, meet with friends or simply do homework while eating.

As the weather gets colder, it will become increasingly unbearable to sit in the plaza, and the library and student center do not allow food inside.

Hence, removing the bookstore and the seating area found in the cafe would leave students with even fewer places to socialize or eat on campus.

“We need more places for students to hangout,” Sophomore Sameeha Zaid said after first reading about the potential closure in an anonymous post in the Baruch College’s student-run subreddit.

“It’s called a college campus for a reason. It’s kinda frustrating to not have many options to sit or explore with your friends.”

While it is unclear if the new BOSS will act as a second spot on campus or will become the only location, the space should still retain seating for Baruch students or a new space should be offered on campus.