Despite the long lines that still reveal Wheelock Books' dominance over the Hanover textbook market, the new management at the Dartmouth Bookstore is trying to reestablish its reputation in the community and create a renewed competition between the two stores.
According to John Cusick, who took over the role of manager when John Schiffman '62 purchased and renovated the Dartmouth Bookstore last summer, patronage to the store has increased significantly compared to last year.
Cusick partially attributed the sales growth to more professors who were willing to share their book lists with the store this term.
"There are still some who are not sharing their lists with us, but we're very appreciative of those who are, as are the students who now have the option of buying their books here," Cusick said. "It keeps the price competitive when there's a choice."
The physics and astronomy department, however, remains one of the departments that refuse to share their book lists with the Dartmouth Bookstore, department chair John Thorstensen said.
"It was a decision made primarily by the departmental administrators, and I guess they just had good experiences with Wheelock in the past and decided to stick with it," Thorstensen said.
Established in 1991 and 119 years younger than the Dartmouth Bookstore, Wheelock Books was a relative newcomer on the Hanover book scene until the spring of 2003 when, two weeks before classes began, the Dartmouth Bookstore announced it would no longer sell textbooks. Since then, the Dartmouth Bookstore has suffered from a reputation of being unreliable.
"Our reputation for consistent and reliable service before, during and after that time has proven our commitment to textbook ordering," Wheelock Books owner Whit Spaulding '89 said.
Although the Dartmouth Bookstore, which is operated by Barnes and Noble College Booksellers, has attempted to strengthen its presence on campus by holding author discussions, hosting a board game gala during first-year orientation and giving out coffee to first-year trips, Wheelock Books remains the predominant campus choice for textbooks.
Many students said they preferred Wheelock Books because they know all their books will be in stock.
"Whenever a professor mentions a bookstore, they always just say Wheelock," Terence Leong '07 said. "I've never had a professor even mention the Dartmouth Bookstore."
But as the Dartmouth Bookstore works to rebuild its recently rocky reputation, some professors are reconsidering whether to give the store their book lists.
"I did have a bad experience when I first came here. This was right before they stopped doing textbooks altogether," linguistics and cognitive science professor Timothy Pulju said. "But from what I hear, the new management at the Dartmouth Bookstore seems to be fine, so I've considered switching to them, or including them at least."
Spaulding, meanwhile, said he welcomes the competition from his rival down the street.
"Wheelock Books views any competition as a challenge to accelerate improvement in its own services," he said.
