Beginning this semester, students will purchase textbooks and other required course materials through the new eCampus Online Bookstore platform. Students have reported experiencing order delays from the new online bookstore and expressed concern over potential long processing times in the mailroom at Frist Campus Center.
In May, the University announced that local independent bookstore Labyrinth Books would no longer serve as the supplier of books for Princeton courses after 17 years of partnership.
According to Caitlin Donahue, Course Materials Manager at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, this change was a collective decision between Labyrinth and the University.
“Labyrinth now gets to fully focus on being a local bookstore that excels in scholarly materials as well,” Donahue said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.
Donahue told the ‘Prince’ that the shift has brought “more awareness about things like the types of books that are being used, what courses need more material, what students are purchasing, and what faculty is requesting.”
Other features of the new platform include the ability to sell textbooks and to price match a new, used, or rental textbook within seven days of purchase.
“I do believe that this provides students with a little more flexibility with the options they have,” Donahue added.
Students may choose to ship their books to Frist Campus Center or to any non-campus address. While shipping is always free for orders sent to Frist, students must spend over $59 to ship items off-campus for free. Books that are available and ordered before 11 a.m. ET will have same-day shipping, and orders placed after 11 a.m. ET will ship the next business day.
According to an email sent to returning students by University Registrar Emily Shandley, students will be notified by Print and Mail Services via email when their orders are ready for pickup. Textbook deliveries sent to Frist Campus Center can be picked up via walk up service at the mail center or in a secure locker.
Some students using the new platform have experienced delays with their orders. “Every time I ordered from Labyrinth, [my books] would arrive in the store around two days after I placed the order,” Alex Picoult ’26 said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “I ordered a book about a week ago from the new system, and it hasn’t arrived yet. Nobody likes to feel unprepared.”
Vivian Loeffert ’27 is also concerned about the processing times at Frist. “I’ve had packages in Frist that take over a week to process,” she said in an interview with the ‘Prince’. “That can become an issue when course materials are needed for readings and other assignments early in the semester.”
Loeffert also enjoyed the experience of visiting a physical store to retrieve course materials. “In an age where there are so few physical books anymore, I liked to have the satisfaction of going into a store. There is also now more packaging and shipping involved, which is bad for the environment,” she said.
Donahue, however, believes that the new online system will be beneficial overall. “I know that a lot of other schools have bookstores that are exclusively online, so I think it’s really great that Princeton is now doing an online bookstore. It allows for a lot more flexibility and accessibility, which is very exciting.”
Ava Fonss is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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