Will hardcopy textbooks and sellers survive?

The impending closure of Wellington’s Vic Books has saddened academics and students both past and present. For some it raises the question: what is a university without a bookshop?

With lower retail traffic, the result of a move to working from home and studying online, cited as one of the main reasons behind the closure, the future for brick and mortar stores which supply students with academic textbooks and course materials seems uncertain.

Jessica Godfrey, general manager of Vic Books, said the closure related to broader retail challenges, but was also part of a decline in hardcopy textbook sales.

‘‘Fewer students have purchased textbooks over the last 15 years as more resources have moved online, and the cost of textbooks has increased considerably.’’

Close to 50 years of book selling

Vic Books, which has been going for close to 50 years, was established in 1975 when the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association bought the textbook operation, Whitcombe and Tombs.

This helped keep costs down for students, secured a reliable supply of textbooks and kept profits in the student community.

Godfrey said the purpose behind Vic Books hadn’t changed, which was why it was still working through the options for continued textbook-only supply with the university.

The closure of the Kelburn campus store follows that of its Pipitea branch in July last year, with the Parliamentary occupation a factor alongside a decline in revenue through the pandemic.

The digital age, which made it easier for students to access secondhand, library and online copies of textbooks, also played a large part.

Godfrey said there was still evidence e-books hadn’t fully replaced the gap in physical sales.

‘‘When you talk to some specialist academic publishers the sales of their e-texts aren’t anywhere as high as we would expect.’’

However, this raised the question of what was filling the gap. ‘‘It seems like some students are simply muddling through their degrees without particularly good access,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s hard to know whether online resources mean there’s no sense of urgency to buy, like there is at the beginning of the year, and students put off purchasing and in the end just don’t. Or whether this talks to a broader issue of student poverty.’’

Adrian Keane, the publisher and director of Edify which specialises in textbooks and course materials, agreed there had been a ‘‘massive shift away’’ from hardcopy textbooks, especially at the tertiary level. This shift coincided with online migration.

‘‘It’s well understood by the industry, as happened with music, textbooks are freely available to be downloaded online on pirate websites. So that’s also been part of the demise.’’

Students were also reading less in general. ‘‘The days of reading through great tome textbooks has passed.’’

Keane said the decline in the New Zealand market was substantial though it varied across universities and subjects.

He noted there was still strong demand from post-graduate

‘‘It’s going to be very odd indeed to work in a university without a bookshop.’’

Dr Trevor Bradley

students and from lecturers in subjects like biology and science.

Many academics still liked to incorporate textbooks in their courses: ‘‘The thing about a textbook is it’s a concentrated coverage of materials around a subject that is actually very handy to have.’’

The great migration online

But textbooks were increasingly being created for online markets which also offered academics more flexibility.

Part of the appeal of e-books was the lower price point. ‘‘The creation of a textbook is a very expensive business compared with the creation of say a novel.’’

Keane felt textbooks would still have a place, though may not be as lucrative as they once were. ‘‘I still think there’s a future for textbooks.’’

Dr Trevor Bradley a senior lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute of Criminology, said academics were increasingly moving online and incorporating videos and online webinars to their lessons.

The author of two textbooks himself, Bradley said about 60% of his students used hardcopy materials while about 40% relied on online versions.

‘‘Some students just want the tangible hardcopy in their hands where they can annotate it, and put post-it notes through it,’’ he said, acknowledging the cheaper e-book was an increasingly attractive option for students.

Textbooks provided a good introduction to topics for his 100-level students and Bradley wrote his books to focus on the course’s learning objects and content. They could date quickly though, especially where statistics were used.

While increasing e-book sales hadn’t impacted the academics behind the textbooks, Bradley acknowledged it had been difficult for the booksellers who lost out on the revenue.

Hardcopy book sales more broadly were still doing well, according to Dan Slevin, chief executive of BooksellersNZ. He said last year’s sales were still higher than 2019 sales by at least 10%.

He said the sales of printed books ‘‘absolutely exploded’’ following the lockdown period, with people flocking to bookstores as soon as they were open.

‘‘We’re not necessarily experiencing the same post-lockdown boom we experienced in 2021, but it’s still stronger here and globally than it was pre-pandemic.’’

More than just a place to buy textbooks

Slevin described Vic Books closure as unique, given it was across two sites and as the impacts of lockdown were compounded by the Parliamentary occupation.

He said it would be greatly missed in the literary world. ‘‘We’re very sad. Vic Books was a big part of our community.’’

Based at the Kelburn campus, Bradley was also sad to see Vic Books go.

‘‘I know they’re going through some tough times, but it’s going to be very odd indeed to work in a university without a bookshop. It will be very unusual in the world of universities.’’

He worried students would increasingly look online at the likes of Amazon to access their textbooks if an alternative arrangement could not be found.

Keane also lamented the loss of Vic Books: ‘‘It’s really sad that Vic Books are winding down because it’s such an important part of campus life.’’

Godfrey said it had been an amazing place to watch people develop as they progressed through their university experience.

‘‘Forty-eight years is a long time and I think we, in so many ways, epitomise life on campus and the sense of community.’’