OREM — The small shop across the street from Utah Valley State College would never be confused with Park Place or Boardwalk, but the store's owners believe they're trapped in a game of Monopoly with the school and the Utah Attorney General's Office.
David Monk and Mike Winward, who operate Beat the Bookstore, an independent retailer of college texts, believe the state is maneuvering to put them out of business.
Monk and Winward say state officials clamped down on information about which college texts would be used in classes fall semester after the two entrepreneurs announced plans to open a shop in Ogden to compete with Weber State University's on-campus bookstore.
Although UVSC has provided the information for three semesters, Assistant Attorney General David C. Jones wrote in a letter sent Friday to Monk and Winward that parts of the colleges' textbook lists — to be exact, the numbers listed above the bar code on the back of books — are considered "a protected record and exempt from disclosure."
Jones also wrote that state law doesn't require UVSC to jeopardize its programs or financial obligations by providing book-ordering information to Beat the Bookstore.
But the store's attorney, Jeff Hunt, said Utah's open-records statute doesn't provide that protection. "That the state has a monopoly is not an accepted reason under the law to close public records," said Hunt, who has represented Utah news media in open-records issues.
Winward said he and Monk are considering legal action because they believe all parts of textbook lists created by state schools are public record.
The fall book list is on UVSC's Web site, but without the ISBN numbers.
If the other bookstores don't have the numbers above the bar code — called International Standard Book Numbers, or ISBNs— then they don't know which book to order.
UVSC gave a large stack of those forms to the operators of Beat the Bookstore on Friday, complete with ISBN numbers, UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said.
But, Winward said, the lists released on Friday cover 50 percent of UVSC's class offerings.
"If we had the full book list today and could place orders today, we'd do close to $500,000," he said.
The latest hurdle hasn't slowed the store's owners plans for an Ogden outlet, even though Weber State hasn't provided all the information they need.
"We're placing orders for Weber State today," Winward said Monday. "We'll open Friday come hell or high water up there, even if it's kind of pathetic."
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