What’s Green and White and Read All Over?

Hint: it’s the new bookstore

Bookstore map

If you’ve been to the Harvard Coop, you know that a university bookstore can be a lot more than shelves of textbooks and some school T-shirts and mugs. Finally, Emory has a bookstore worthy of its campus community. The new Oxford Road Building opened this summer, and with it Emory’s Barnes and Noble, the revamped Office of Admission, and a Starbucks (but of course). Spacious, swanky, and sustainable, the space is already a magnet for a mix of students, staff, faculty, and Druid Hills families. Move over, Coop.

Toto, I don’t think we’re on campus anymore.

But wait, there’s my math professor! The bright Barnes and Noble retail space on Oxford Road blends funky lighting and trendy design with splashes of pure Emory, like the big faculty authors bookshelf and the murals featuring Druid Hills and the Atlanta skyline. “Everyone wanted it to be both Emory and Barnes and Noble,” says contract manager Bruce Covey. “It’s not a typical trade bookstore. There is more attention paid to academic subjects.” But that hasn’t stopped the surrounding community from making it their new go-to source for Stieg Larsson and Rick Riordan books.

Leapin’ laptops, Daddy Starbucks!

Stone fireplace, sweeping windows, generous family-style tables, soft seating—all set off with a rustic, lodge-like décor. This spacious Starbucks cafe, said to be the largest on any college campus in the country, has quickly become the new study hall, gathering place, and wellspring of that dark, buzzy nectar, coffee. We think we’re gonna like it here.

Time to hit the books.

The bookstore’s second floor houses all academic textbooks, including those for the School of Medicine. Students can come and browse the many aisles for the semester’s required reading or order online and come in to collect their armload of untapped knowledge. There’s some nice lounge space, too, for studying and, you know, reading.

Where to get hooked up.

After wandering row upon row of textbooks, one stumbles into an oasis of wired electronic bliss: the campus computer store. Previously housed in a trailer behind Dobbs University Center, the glassed-in corner shop proffers a respectable range of computers and accessories, most of which have a picture of an apple on them. No need to trek to Lenox Mall—that shiny new iPad, laptop, or mouse is just a short walk away.

T-shirts and hoodies and bears, oh, my!

The “spirit shop” on the bookstore’s third floor is the place for all things Emory, and the merch selection is bigger and cooler than ever before. Eagles athletics and their mascot, Swoop, get special focus in a mural on the wall and a range of clothing and retail items on the floor. From coffee mugs and wine glasses to golf balls and tote bags, there’s no shortage of ways to show and share your Emory pride.

Step into our living room.

Adjoining the new undergraduate Office of Admission is a capacious, comfortable community space with a fireplace and windows overlooking Baker Woodland. Designed as a common area where prospective students might meet faculty and students who are hanging out in real life, the room is an impressive welcome to Emory. A few steps away, doors lead out to the beautifully landscaped Anne Register Jones Courtyard, named in honor of the wife of Boisfeuillet Jones and the mother of Emory trustee Laura Hardman 67C. Below the plaza, a parking deck: $2 an hour.