School Name
Charlotte Latin School

Founded
1970

A co-educational, college-preparatory day school serving students in transitional kindergarten through grade 12.

Enrollment
1,370

Location
Charlotte, NC

MBS Direct Client
Since 2003

Client Challenge

Operating an in-house textbook program to service the needs of more than 1,300 students was taking its toll on the Charlotte Latin School staff. Placing book orders with multiple publishers and keeping track of the copious amounts of paperwork associated with ordering was both time consuming and complicated. The book orders would arrive during the summer, but there wasn't space to store the books. As Textbook Coordinator Lou Ann Lambert explained, "We utilized our entire cafeteria to store the books and run the annual book sale, which meant that this key area couldn't be used for other purposes throughout the summer or even the first week of school." With a limited number of staff on-site during the summer, it was difficult to manage all of the incoming book orders. The school was forced to hire students during the summer to assist with processing and sorting the book orders, as well as to help prepare for the book sale. Charlotte Latin School needed a textbook solution that would relieve staff of these physical and operational burdens, while delivering quality customer service to parents and students.

Solution

In 2003, MBS Direct launched an online bookstore to service the textbook needs of Charlotte Latin students and families. With parents now placing orders directly through the online bookstore, there's no need to house book inventory on campus. In addition, MBS Direct has streamlined the adoption process with Course Director, a new online adoption management tool that empowers staff to review the book adoptions and complete the approval process online. These solutions impact both parents and the school. According to Lambert, "Our parents are very happy with Direct's book ordering process, and I find that every year, Direct continues to improve the process for everyone involved." It is this continued focus on improvement that makes MBS Direct the best at delivering textbook solutions.

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