Beginning next fall, Mississippi State University students can buy books and periodicals along with their textbooks at a Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus.
The bookstore will be located in Cullis Wade Depot, which is currently under construction next to Davis Wade Stadium on the western side of campus and is expected to be finished by July 2006. The Depot will also include a Mississippi State welcome center, a Starbucks and a clock museum.
The 45,000-square-foot building will resemble a train depot with benches and tables outside. The train depot will correspond with the historic railroad bed that the Depot will be built beside, vice president of finance and administration Ray Hayes said.
“The bookstore will occupy the majority of the building. The bottom floor of the bookstore will be what you might consider a traditional Barnes and Noble with the books, magazines and a coffee shop. The top floor will contain textbooks,” he said.
Barnes and Noble will take over the MSU bookstore beginning in October and operate in the Union until construction is complete on the Cullis Wade Depot.
The Depot will cost about $8.5 million, and MSU would receive a portion of the revenue from book sales to help repay the cost, Hayes said.
Hours of operation for the bookstore are not yet set, but it will be open seven days a week with extended hours, he said.
The Barnes and Noble will also contain a Starbucks with MSU flair. Instead of Starbucks pastries, the coffee shop will sell pastries made at MSU.
Hayes said he believes the new bookstore will be very useful and convenient to students.
“Barnes and Noble and Starbucks will create a nice place on campus for students, faculty and non-students alike to hang out and read. It will be convenient to get your textbooks and any other books or magazines you will need all in one place,” sophomore computer science major Amanda Knotts said.
While some students see the new bookstore as a step up for MSU, others think the money could be put to better use.
“I think they should build a parking garage instead of a bookstore,” senior nutrition and kinesiology major Jennifer Christian said. “We already have a bookstore, and parking is more of a problem.”
Cullis Wade, a 1940 graduate of MSU, said he was glad to give back to his alma mater.
The Depot’s clock museum will be composed of clocks Wade has collected over three decades from all over the country.
Wade said he had no idea how many clocks were in his collection.
“I’ve been collecting clocks since 1971, and the last time I counted there were more than 400,” said Wade.