The Reporter: June 1996, Vol.7, No.3
Audubon Bookstore: "We're Still Here"

The CPMC Audubon Bookstore, formerly located in the Black Build-ing, is a hub for Health Sciences students around registration time when they stock up on textbooks and supplies. But according to the store's new manager, Sandra Martinez, the outlet is also in place to provide merchandise for the CPMC and Washington Heights communities.

Ms. Martinez is a familiar face at Columbia. She worked at the store in the Black Building for 10 years before transferring to the Morningside campus bookstore. She's also a lifelong resident of Washington Heights, so she has a personal appreciation of the changes at Audubon. "I lived here when Malcolm X was killed, and now I've seen the improvements made to this building. It brings the community up," she says.

On March 1, Ms. Martinez returned to the Health Sciences campus with the goal of transforming the bookstore into a store for the whole community-the medical center as well as the surrounding neighborhood. Although the store, which is operated by Barnes & Noble, will always focus on serving the needs of students and faculty, Ms. Martinez wants to expand the merchandise selection. She also is working to tailor the store to meet the needs of the neighborhood. "I've been going to community meetings where I learn a lot," she says. It was through those meetings that she discovered some people living in the community who also work at CPMC thought the store had disappeared.

That revelation has led to a campaign to remind people both in the community and the Health Sciences that the store is alive and well. Ms. Martinez set up a table in the Milstein Hospital Building for several days to offer store coupons, price and product lists, and the chance for employees to make suggestions. "We have a comment card on which we ask people what they think about the store and what items they would like to see offered," she says.

After speaking with local librarians and school principals, Ms. Martinez has decided to start a story time for area children. "My youngest daughter is a student at PS 8 just a couple blocks from here. Her teacher thought the story time was a wonderful idea," she says.

During warm weather months, Ms. Martinez hopes to set up a sidewalk sale outside the main entrance of the store. On a regular basis, books from the hardcover and paperback best-seller lists of the New York Times are offered at a 20 percent discount. At the request of customers, Ms. Martinez is also working to offer a wider selection of computer software, especially educational games for children, in addition to basic software.