Very timely! I took my two granddaughters to Time Out in Mt Eden, Auckland today because I knew there is a young woman there who knows exactly what books they’ll like based on what they’ve enjoyed. We left with two books each. I’m sure they’re in the library but I want to do my little bit to make Time Out part of their lives and keep it going for their children!
I buy as many books as I can from the Womens Bookshop in Auckland (I live up this way). And you know what? There isn’t a big price diff between them and Book Dep or other behemoths - sometimes none! Sometimes they’re cheaper! And you get super quick postage, sweet emails and notes 📝 and aw it’s just lovely.
Time Out are also great up here and I try to buy from Scorpio in ChCh for my Sth Island family.
But is there a list of indie bookshops anywhere? I’d love to actively support more or spread the word.
Ps if anyone here belongs to the NZ Authors Society you get 10% discount in many indie stores 💜
Love this! These shops have a real big place in my own growing up too, events and as a teenager sitting on the floor of Scorpio and reading and never being told to leave.
Books and bookshops are really special to me too - books are the one thing I allow myself to be totally aquisitive/hoardy about (now where am I gonna fit another shelf). And it's just not the same buying them online.
What are we down to in Wellington now? Just a handful of independents left - Unity, Good Books, the Children's Bookshop...? It's bleak to keep losing them 😢
Oh that's so sad. Once I heard that book depository was a Bezos joint I stopped buying there, but I think not a lot of people know that it is. I also go to Time Out and they're so good, and reasonably priced and their Auckland delivery is super fast. I'd be heartbroken if anything happened to them.
It is sad but pragmatic brain me is MAD. Vic Books originally existed as a place where students could purchase the text books they needed for their studies. They held the reading lists for every course, and also did some of the horse-trading involved in second hand text books. They were the place you could purchase the bound compendia of excerpts put together for courses, produced at the VUW Press up the hill in the basement of the Round Building.
I assume that students are getting their texts via other means now and probably have for decades (I finished in 1987 after all) but without this on site place to purchase, what happens? Suddenly everyone is on their own. I hate that. I'd rather that students had been compelled to buy their books there, and that it had stayed smaller and focussed, to do the very thing that it was meant originally to be, than to fail as a general book store and cafe.
And that come down to the commercial imperative of the uni itself. A uni who is looking at the bottom line of rental income from tenants than why their tenants are there in the first place and what intangibles they need to ensure they deliver on. A uni is a wee bit like a country, and its governance needs to be about sometimes taking a loss to ensure its citizens have the services they paid their taxes (fees) for.
I guess I think of it as something more than a bookstore and cafe - I think of it is a community hub, a safe space, a place that champions past and present students etc a place where you can go without alcohol to be with your community etc. I don’t know why it is closing but I feel sad that for whatever reason the university didn’t keep it. Every time I was in there it was busy with people buying books....but people’s habits have moved to online and overseas cheaper options which is a loss to all.
Oh it will be a financial thing. Whether it isn't making enough money or they want the space for something else. It was a lot of things for a lot of people but its unique point of difference was, it was there for the students. :(
Very timely! I took my two granddaughters to Time Out in Mt Eden, Auckland today because I knew there is a young woman there who knows exactly what books they’ll like based on what they’ve enjoyed. We left with two books each. I’m sure they’re in the library but I want to do my little bit to make Time Out part of their lives and keep it going for their children!
Love that so much. My boy loves the bookstore. Time Out are so great. I launched Rants in the Dark there!
I buy as many books as I can from the Womens Bookshop in Auckland (I live up this way). And you know what? There isn’t a big price diff between them and Book Dep or other behemoths - sometimes none! Sometimes they’re cheaper! And you get super quick postage, sweet emails and notes 📝 and aw it’s just lovely.
Time Out are also great up here and I try to buy from Scorpio in ChCh for my Sth Island family.
But is there a list of indie bookshops anywhere? I’d love to actively support more or spread the word.
Ps if anyone here belongs to the NZ Authors Society you get 10% discount in many indie stores 💜
Yes exactly! And both the women’s bookshop and Scorpio have hosted events for me to launch my books! They’re amazing.
Love this! These shops have a real big place in my own growing up too, events and as a teenager sitting on the floor of Scorpio and reading and never being told to leave.
Oh no, terrible news!
Books and bookshops are really special to me too - books are the one thing I allow myself to be totally aquisitive/hoardy about (now where am I gonna fit another shelf). And it's just not the same buying them online.
What are we down to in Wellington now? Just a handful of independents left - Unity, Good Books, the Children's Bookshop...? It's bleak to keep losing them 😢
Oh that's so sad. Once I heard that book depository was a Bezos joint I stopped buying there, but I think not a lot of people know that it is. I also go to Time Out and they're so good, and reasonably priced and their Auckland delivery is super fast. I'd be heartbroken if anything happened to them.
Yes! I wish more people knew. It’s horrendous.
Great bookshops, to me, define the social health of a community and a society
Absolutely Tony. So well said.
So so sorry to hear this 💔
This news made me so incredibly sad for us and for all the students who will miss out on the future joy of such a wonderful space 😭
It’s so sad 😭
It is sad but pragmatic brain me is MAD. Vic Books originally existed as a place where students could purchase the text books they needed for their studies. They held the reading lists for every course, and also did some of the horse-trading involved in second hand text books. They were the place you could purchase the bound compendia of excerpts put together for courses, produced at the VUW Press up the hill in the basement of the Round Building.
I assume that students are getting their texts via other means now and probably have for decades (I finished in 1987 after all) but without this on site place to purchase, what happens? Suddenly everyone is on their own. I hate that. I'd rather that students had been compelled to buy their books there, and that it had stayed smaller and focussed, to do the very thing that it was meant originally to be, than to fail as a general book store and cafe.
And that come down to the commercial imperative of the uni itself. A uni who is looking at the bottom line of rental income from tenants than why their tenants are there in the first place and what intangibles they need to ensure they deliver on. A uni is a wee bit like a country, and its governance needs to be about sometimes taking a loss to ensure its citizens have the services they paid their taxes (fees) for.
That's why I am mad. GRRRR.
I guess I think of it as something more than a bookstore and cafe - I think of it is a community hub, a safe space, a place that champions past and present students etc a place where you can go without alcohol to be with your community etc. I don’t know why it is closing but I feel sad that for whatever reason the university didn’t keep it. Every time I was in there it was busy with people buying books....but people’s habits have moved to online and overseas cheaper options which is a loss to all.
Oh it will be a financial thing. Whether it isn't making enough money or they want the space for something else. It was a lot of things for a lot of people but its unique point of difference was, it was there for the students. :(