RADFORD -- Radford University has awarded the contract for management of its bookstore operations to Follett Higher Education Group.

The six-year contract award is the result of competitive negotiations to replace the current contract that expires Saturday, Oct. 31. The contract between RU and Follett Higher Education Group will begin Nov. 1 and run through May 31, 2015.

The current contractor for RU bookstore operations, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, will end its 15-year operation of the RU Bookstore on Oct. 26. The transition of contractors will result in the closure of the RU Bookstore from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1.

“Follett has a very large footprint in this segment and we’re looking forward to working with them here at Radford University,” said Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President for Finance and Administration Richard Alvarez. “We are also asking our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends to plan for the one-week shutdown that will be required in order to support the transition.”

Follett Higher Education Group, based in Oak Brook, IL, operates 856 college and university bookstores across North America, including Old Dominion University, James Madison University and Virginia State University in Virginia. Follett is the largest operator of college bookstores in North America, stocks over 100,000 titles and is the industry's largest wholesaler of used books to higher education. According to its website, the Follett mission is to support higher education by being the preeminent provider of academic and collegiate products and services.

The RU Bookstore, located on the first floor of Dalton Hall, is a full-service provider of academic essentials - books, supplies, and computer software and hardware. The RU Bookstore is the campus source for RU branded clothing and giftware, facilitates the reservations of textbooks directly from a student’s online schedule, buys back textbooks and offers general reference, trade titles and campus best-sellers.