THE NEW LOOK IN UNIVERSITY BOOKSELLING

A young man came for an interview recently as he wished to talk over the possibilities of making a career in bookselling. After some discussion he put a question to me: ‘You have frequently used the term “university bookselling”. Is it so different from bookselling in general?’ This was not easy to answer briefly, and on further consideration it becomes even more difficult, for it is clear that the fundamental aims of all types of bookseller are the same. They could be summed up as a, to carry as good an overall stock as capital and space permit, b, to give a good service to customers, and c, to sell as many books as possible at the best terms which can be obtained. These are common to us all, and the only difference in university bookselling is in the scope of what is required under a and b.