You're sure to see plenty of new things at the college bookstore this fall including the new director Kerri Kirk. One thing you may have already noticed was the tighter security at the start of the quarter. This was due to a "rise in professional book thieves posing as students [who are] really taking bookstores for a lot of money," said Kirk. She further clarified that it was not distrust in EvCC students.

Kirk, who holds a bachelor's degree in business administration, took control of the campus bookstore on August 4. She brings much of her business experience from the Burlington Target store where she was the guest service and soft-line executive manager for seven years. She is currently a member of the Northwest College Bookstore Association.

Kirk was District Resource for Guest Service Executives of Western Washington and did "a lot of mentoring to new executives" and those striving for the position. "I helped them on their promotional track" she said, and boasts a "very high promotion rate." She has offered her mentoring skills to the college's Business Department.

Donna Staggs, who has been an employee with the store for 20+ years said that working with the new director is, "exciting because we haven't had this much direction in years, [it's also] exhausting because Kerri is so full of ideas and energy. I feel the student body is going to see a remarkable change in a very short time." Kirk is also the mother of three boys with the youngest being seven and the oldest a senior in high school, yet she still finds time to dance. She is a competitive ballroom dancer who holds 1st place medals in four different categories. Kirk's most recent win was in San Francisco for the cha-cha. She is looking forward to competing in nine dance categories this upcoming January in Seattle.

Kirk's goal for the bookstore is to increase sales by 10 percent. "I'm trying to find better deals and new vendors, to give students more reason to want to shop here. I'll be offering new and exciting product mixes." She is currently working with a team of Lynne Munoz's class of Marketing 150 students as their live client. Donna Staggs is one of the students along with Mikel Kowalcyk who is a work-study student in the bookstore, Ruth Smith, Lori O'neill, Jillian Smith, and Chris Contreras. The class is very motivated and excited about the project. "This is going to be so cool," says Ruth Smith.

The combination of an enthusiastic Kirk and the enterprising students is sure to be noticed as the bookstore goes through changes. Among the things on the student's to-do list is to give the store a name and to come up with a store theme. Student Chris Contreras would like to see that theme "put more pride in the Trojans."

In an effort to make the bookstore more a "part" of the campus instead of a separate entity, Kirk said, "I'm trying to do a lot more things with different departments and classes; I plan to approach the art department to commission some canvas murals for the bookstore."