The Bookie celebrates 100 years on Pullman campus

During the same year The Bookie at Washington State University opened, World War I began, Wrigley Field opened for its first season and the university was called Washington State College.

The store celebrated its 100-year anniversary Friday, and for most of the afternoon, students flowed in to get door prizes, discounts on books and clothes, free T-shirts and participate in drawings to win $100 gift cards.

The WSU marching band made an appearance and began the celebration with the fight song. WSU's mascot, Butch, was available for photos.

Associated Students of WSU President Taylor Hennessey spoke to the crowd about The Bookie's origins.

He said it started when the 1912 student body president sponsored a committee tasked with studying the feasibility of operating a bookstore on campus. Two years later, the store was built after the students passed a $2,000 initiative to establish the student-owned book store, Hennessey said. He said the store grossed $2,385 in its first year.

The Bookie, which has always been governed by the WSU Students Book Corporation, was first located where Wilmer-Davis Hall now stands. It moved to a different facility on Thatuna Street in 1954, before becoming the anchor tenant for the Compton Union building when the CUB was renovated in 2008.

It is the only university book store in the country that is owned by the students, said Robert Rosenman, chairman of the Faculty Senate and member of the SBC Board of Directors.

Rosenman also spoke at the event and informed the crowd The Bookie is the second oldest business in Pullman, with the first being Rico's Public House.

When he first became a WSU faculty member in 1983, Rosenman said he could always count on running into students of his at The Bookie and Rico's.

"I realize how important both these institutions were to the students at Washington State University," he said.

He said most college bookstores are university-owned, but at WSU the students are the stockholders.

They also play a key part in running the day-to-day operations. Barry Johnston, SBC board member and WSU vice president of finance, said there are nine members of the SBC Board of Directors and five of them are students.

"It's critically important that the students play a role in looking over the assets of the corporation always for the benefit of Washington State University students," he said.

Johnston said The Bookie gives back to students through book discounts, dividends and by leasing space in the CUB, which helped pay for the $86 million CUB renovation. He called its century-old existence "an incredible story."

Graduate student Ashlyn Wedde and her sister Kirstin Weddle were there enjoying free ice cream treats handed out by Bookie employees. She called the event "pretty exciting."

"How often do you get a centennial?" she said.

WSU President Elson Floyd was scheduled to speak but could not attend due to a scheduling conflict.

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at (208) 883-4630, or by email to akuipers@dnews.com.