A familiar sight in the University Community Centre will be gone come September.

The University Students’ Council will no longer operate the Used Book Store. On July 1, Western will take over the space and continue selling used textbooks.

The decision follows years of declining revenue for the UBS. Increased competition and an evolving publishing industry were to blame, according to a USC press release.

While the USC is losing the retail space, sixteen students are also losing their jobs.

“We felt the USC handled our termination poorly,” Jade Cowan, Western student and employee of the UBS since 2009, said. “Though we acknowledge and understand the terms of confidentiality in the USC and University’s sale agreement, there is still a strong sense of frustration and lack of faith in our USC governors.”

Lindsay Stevenson, another employee of the UBS, started a Facebook group to inform students of the closure.

“I am very disappointed and frustrated with the closure of the Used Book Store. Personally, it puts me in a very tough financial situation for the summer, and the same goes for many of my coworkers,” Stevenson said.

“[The Facebook group] is by no means a substitution for direct action and communication with the USC or the Book Store, but it helps a lot of students know what is going on,” she added. “I certainly think they have the right to know before September rolls in.”

Stevenson expressed frustration at the lack of transparency surrounding the sale.

“There was no referendum or other sort of vote, in which all students were informed of the details and had the chance to decide for themselves.”

Nicole Fassina, communications officer for the USC, said they will try to find replacement positions for the unemployed students.

The Book Store at Western will continue offering its buyback program in September, which allows students to sell higher quality used textbooks back to the store. There will be no consignment option and the USC will receive a commission on books sold.

“The Used Book Store space will be used for our needs,” Steve Alb, director of Western retail services, said. “Possibly buyback, but not confirmed at this time.”

Fassina said Western’s buyback method lets students receive money instantly instead of twice yearly through UBS consignment cheques. She added students with battered textbooks should look elsewhere if they want to sell them.

“Students are still free to sell any books or sub-standard textbooks through open-market outlets such as Facebook, Amazon, or Craigslist.”

According to Fassina, the USC will review the agreement in six months to determine if it is serving students well. There will also be evaluations every three years.

The USC will be honouring all existing consignment contracts and students will be able to pick up their cheques or unsold books by August 31. Students who placed books on consignment will be notified via email when and where the pickup will take place.

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SIDEBAR INFORMATION

“The Bookstore will buy used books from the students and is committed to offering 50 per cent of the new price if the book is being adopted again on campus and our quota has not been met,” Steve Alb, director of Western retail services, said. “The Bookstore will be offering the full buyback program. There will no longer be consignment.”

Textbooks not being used again on campus can be sold to other schools or wholesalers for 10 to 30 percent of the retail cost.

This is a decrease from what the UBS has recommended in the past. Previously the UBS has recommended students sell text books at 75 per cent of the retail price, with 30 per cent taken to cover costs of running the UBS. The left 52.5 percent of the books’ retail price in students’ pockets, according to Fassina.