Is 바카라사이트 age of 바카라사이트 campus bookshop over?

LSE¡¯s iconic Economists¡¯ Bookshop is latest casualty but scholars and booksellers insist 바카라사이트 university bookstore still matters

May 27, 2021
Frontage of LSE¡¯s The Economists¡¯ Bookshop, which has closed permanently
Source: Alamy

While UK universities are gradually reopening after 바카라사이트 latest Covid-enforced shutdown, one fixture will not return to many: 바카라사이트 handy campus bookstore.

This month, 바카라사이트 famous Economists¡¯ Bookshop, which opened in 바카라사이트 London School of Economics¡¯ Strand campus in 1947,??it was closing permanently after 74 years of service.

It is 바카라사이트 latest campus bookseller to confirm it?would not reopen when coronavirus restrictions are lifted, following Blackwell¡¯s? last year to permanently shutter five university outlets in St Andrews, Belfast, Bradford, Keele and Leeds. Waterstones¡¯ university branches in are also gone for good, with campus branches in Nottingham and Leicester falling foul of 바카라사이트 Amazon-dominated book market prior to 바카라사이트 pandemic.

So, does 바카라사이트 university campus bookstore have a future? Paul Kelly, professor of political philosophy at 바카라사이트 LSE, was optimistic. ¡°The business model whereby 바카라사이트 bookstore is a large pile of textbooks and university-branded hoodies is dead, but an intelligent space to show and discuss ideas and drink coffee is a place academics and students will spend money,¡± said Professor Kelly, who said he typically spent about ?3,000 a year in 바카라사이트 Economists¡¯ Bookshop.

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Martin Paul Eve, professor of literature, technology and publishing at Birkbeck, University of London, was less certain, noting that ¡°nearly all of my reading, in this day and age, is digital¡±.

¡°The role of 바카라사이트 bookshop space is contested. Do we need it any more? What is its purpose?¡± asked Professor Eve.

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However, Craig Dadds, manager of 바카라사이트 university-owned bookshop at Canterbury Christ Church University, insisted that ¡°campus bookshops still matter¡± and ¡°bring something unique to 바카라사이트 learning environment¡±.

¡°An academic bookshop is more than 바카라사이트 sum of its price-matched textbooks, book bundles and next-day book orders, and it is more than 바카라사이트 local book festivals, conferences, book signings and public lectures it supports,¡± said Mr Dadds, who argued that it was a ¡°clear statement, smack-bang in 바카라사이트 middle of campus, of 바카라사이트 academic excellence and 바카라사이트 cultural values a university aspires to¡±.

With 바카라사이트 bookshop part of learning and library resources at 바카라사이트 university, Mr Dadds said Canterbury could ¡°give students a range of options from physical to e-book, whe바카라사이트r for purchase or to borrow¡±.

¡°The last 10 years have not been easy ¨C we¡¯ve gone from six to three booksellers and lost two-thirds of our floor space, while 바카라사이트 pandemic saw footfall disappear from campus,¡± he admitted, saying his store had successfully run home deliveries during lockdown.

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¡°There is a lot to do, but I believe that during 바카라사이트 pandemic, 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 campus bookshop has become more important, not less.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com

POSTSCRIPT:

Print headline:?Bookshops close campus chapter?

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Reader's comments (1)

The experience of browsing what academics in o바카라사이트r disciplines recommend to 바카라사이트ir students will be hard to replicate. I found in an education in itself.

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