The University Book Store will celebrate its 110th birthday on Feb. 26. The store began its journey in 1894 with the motto, \for the benefit of the students, not for profit"" which drove the store's development over the years as it has faced the challenge of meeting the needs of an ever-growing and changing student body.
A small group of students founded the bookstore as a cooperative to purchase blue books at bulk rates. They named it the University Co-Op and membership was free to all students and faculty.
As the university grew, so did the Co-Op's membership and the structure no longer functioned, according to Marvin Schaars, who served as a trustee of the University Book Store for 19 years. Schaars told the store's history in an interview conducted by the Oral History Project and explained the Co-Op structure had to be abandoned because as students graduated, they left the area and it was impossible to run the store in a true cooperative manner.
""Pretty soon you had an organization with everybody away from it and hardly anybody present to transact the official duties such as electing a board of directors,"" Schaars said.
In 1914, the Board of Directors bought back all of the shares in the Co-Op for $10 a piece and reorganized the bookstore under a Massachusetts trust agreement. Under the agreement, the store is a private business with no financial ties to the university, but unlike a corporation no one owns the business' assets and it is not profit-driven. The Board of Directors of the University Book Store is made up of the store's president, faculty, alumni, students and university staff.
Pat McGowan, the current president-elect of the bookstore, said this business model allows the store to serve the students better and offer them the best price possible on textbooks.
""Students on this campus are paying less than any other Big Ten campus,"" McGowan said.
The store keeps its prices low by offering used textbooks and by lowering the store's markup, according to McGowan.
""Out of 76 large bookstores, we rank fourth-highest in the number of used books offered,"" McGowan said. Also, the common book store markup on textbooks is 25 percent and the University Book Store keeps its markup to 20 percent or less.
Still, McGowan admitted textbook prices are rising at a rate higher than inflation and at a faster rate than other products offered by the store, but this is not because of the store; rather, the publishers are raising prices. McGowan said the store is working with university faculty and organizations such as WisPIRG to find ways to reduce textbook prices.
The University Book Store also supports students through scholarship donations. Each year it gives over $50,000 to such scholarship funds as the Chancellor's undergraduate scholarship fund, alumni scholarships and Academic Awards for Excellence.
Students also make up about 50 percent of the store's 125 part-time workers and McGowan said he is pleased to employ students.
""When you pick out of this student body, you can't go wrong because it's a bunch of top kids from the high schools,"" he said.
McGowan has worked for the book store for 13 years, but is a relative newcomer compared to most of the store's 100 full-time employees. John Morrison, who has worked for the book store for 47 years, said he remembered when the store was located where Memorial Library is now. The book store moved to its current location in 1972.
As the textbook receiving manager, Morrison has the job of making sure all the required textbooks are on the shelves for the big fall rush.
""Everything starts with me and ends with me,"" Morrison said. He handles not only the new textbooks that are ordered from publishers, but also the used textbooks students sell back to the store.
Morrison said he wishes students knew what it takes to get books ready each semester and said he takes pride that over 90 percent of the required textbooks are on the shelves as the semester starts. He estimated last semester it was over 300,000 books, adding the days leading up to the rush are ""like a circus.""
Morrison said the store is indebted to the students for its existence and it returns the favor in fairness.
""Even when we were the only store on campus, we never cheated the students,"" Morrison said.
