(a) A qualified depository of textbooks shall be responsible for receiving textbook orders from the State Board of Education or local boards of education, storing sufficient quantities of textbooks, and distributing textbooks in accordance with this article.

(b) A qualified depository shall do all of the following:

(1) Have sufficient warehouse space to maintain sufficient stock.

(2) Be located within the state.

(3) Have the financial capacity to provide steady and continuous operations upon which the State Board of Education and local boards of education can rely. The financial capacity may be maintained in a qualified depository or in another member of the same Alabama affiliated group, as that term is defined in Section 40-18-39.

(c) For the services provided herein, a qualified depository may not charge the State Board of Education or a local board of education, but rather shall sell the textbooks in accordance with the prices prescribed in subsection (c) of Section 16-36-64. A qualified depository may negotiate contracts directly with publishers of textbooks to charge a fee to the publishers.

(d) It shall be the responsibility of the publisher to ensure that a sufficient stock of textbooks is maintained at a qualified depository. Upon the failure of any publisher to carry a sufficient stock to meet all of the immediate demands of the State Board of Education and local boards of education as required by a contract made under this article, the contracting board of education may recover on the bond given by the publisher for the full value of the books not furnished as required by the contract and terminate the contract.