October 17, 2008

Members of the Rutgers Community:

On November 3, 2008, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers will begin managing the bookstores on Rutgers’ New Brunswick Campus. As we get ourselves ready to become part of the Rutgers community, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share with you our vision for how Barnes & Noble and Rutgers can partner together to create a world-class bookstore for the entire community.

Barnes & Noble currently manages over 620 bookstores across the country including those at Harvard, Yale, MIT, Indiana University, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and The Ohio State University. Before coming to New Brunswick, I worked in our stores at Dartmouth College and Boston University. I genuinely enjoy the vitality and energy of working on college campuses, and I am delighted to now be serving Rutgers.

My goal is to create a bookstore that focuses on serving the needs of Rutgers students and faculty and eventually becomes a fundamental part of the campus community. Your bookstore should be more than just a convenient place to shop. It should also be a campus landmark that generates tremendous enthusiasm and pride. But this can only be achieved by working together. Beginning day one, my staff and I will be looking for your input and ideas. I encourage everyone to stop by the store or contact me via email at jcusick@bncollege.com to share your thoughts and feedback.

Soon, we will begin construction of a beautiful new bookstore as part of the Gateway Project. This new, multilevel store will sell textbooks, supplies, general reading materials, magazines, and Rutgers gear, and it will house a full-service cafe. We expect the store to open in 2011, and we will keep you up to date on the status of this exciting project. In the meantime, you can continue to shop in any one of the stores on campus or, beginning on November 1, 2008, you can visit our website at www.rutgers.bncollege.com to purchase your textbooks and Rutgers merchandise, and even learn about our Cash for Books program through which you can sell your books back to the store for cash, no matter where you bought them.

This is a very exciting time for all of us, and on behalf of everyone at Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, I thank you for the opportunity to serve your great institution.

Sincerely,
John Cusick
Store Manager, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers