For more than eighty years, the University Bookshop has been a fixture of student life,
and a staple of the wider Dunedin community. When it first opened in 1945, under the management of the Presbyterian Book Room, the first page was turned in the UUniversity’s story following the Second World War.
The shop arrived during one of the university’s busiest years. Arana and Carrington
Colleges both opened their doors, the Capping Show returned after a three-year hiatus,
and an influx of returning soldiers drove enrollments to new heights. To support the unprecedented wave of students, the bookshop became part of a broader effort to help
returning soldiers readjust to civilian life through education. Access to quality books was seen as a ‘kick-starting’ measure to the country’s post-war recovery.
As cohorts of students came and went, the bookshop steadily grew. Now owned by the Griffin family, it relocated from a converted two-storeyed house opposite the Captain Cook Hotel to its current site on Great King Street in 1962. The building, a former confectionery factory, came with a series of quirks that gave the shop a unique character. Among them was a hydraulic hoist, once used to move lollies between floors, repurposed to haul stacks of books.
The 1970s saw more shifts in ownership. Control of the bookshop passed from the Griffin family, to Whitcoulls and OUSA, with OUSA eventually taking full ownership of the store. However, as of the 27th of July, OUSA announced the relocation of the bookshop to a “smaller, student-focused” on-campus store on Cumberland Street, designed to “better serve students and ensure long-term sustainability.” The new location will not have postal services, and will primarily stock textbooks, essential stationary and academic resources.
"The relocation and refocus of UBS has been carefully considered; it is an important step in ensuring the Bookshop continues to serve students well into the future," said OUSA President Daniel Leamy. "The changes allow us to focus more directly on student needs and deliver a more targeted and sustainable offering." According to a press release, the relocation was a response to changing operating conditions, including “increased operating costs and changing consumer behaviour.” It supports a renewed focus on affordability, accessibility, and student-centred services.
Simon, a University staff member and student working towards his Honours degree in History, called the closure “devastating”. “An irreparable loss for students, for the campus,” he continued. In Simon’s eyes, losing an independent book store to source material would be a “dimming of academic life” and the “intellectual scene” at the University of Otago. Despite the closure, Simon pointed to the fact that the market for indie books still exists, but would drive buyers into ordering from Scorpio or Unity books, moving commerce away from the city. “It’s really frustrating,” Simon admitted.
Over the decades, the shop has welcomed countless students as well as literary figures
including Janet Frame, James K. Baxter, Ruth Dallas, and Margaret Mahy. But now, after serving generations of students and becoming a respected part of Dunedin’s community life, the University Bookshop will enter a new, albeit quieter, chapter in its history.
