| Description | Minutes of the Bookshop Committee, appointed by Senate, with the approval of Council, to be a channel of communication between the Senate and E. F. Hudson Limited, the bookseller which opened a shop on the Edgbaston campus in 1962, and to advise both the Senate and E. F. Hudson Limited on matters of University Bookshop policy. It was intended that the committee would also be concerned with assisting E. F. Hudson Limited in routine matters of University Bookshop administration where necessary and possible
Membership of the committee consisted of the Vice-Chancellor as chair, with members of academic staff, the University Librarian, and Hudson employees. It met twice a year during the 1960s, but only once a year from 1970 onwards
The first meeting was held on 25 August 1961. Minutes of this meeting include a report by G. W. Hudson on fixtures and fittings for the new bookshop on the Edgbaston campus following the expected completion date, and opening plans for October 1961. Minutes of the next meeting, held on 7 December 1961, record that it had not been possible to open the bookshop in the New Refectory, but it was operating in a temporary location in the gallery above the main entrance to the Great Hall. The report by G. W. Hudson with these minutes mentions the expected opening of the bookshop in the Refectory complex [University Centre] in 1962
Minutes of meetings held in the 1960s contain discussion of staffing and opening hours, sometimes with the names of individual members of staff given; comment on stock, orders, and second hand books; the operation of the bookshop including information about revision of stock, number of customers and orders, trading results, and ideas for the development of the bookshop and revision of opening hours in response to footfall. There are some references to publicity for the bookshop, including discussion about the use of display cases in academic buildings to advertise stock. Minutes of the meeting held on 22 May 1963 refer to the nomination of departmental representatives for bookshop matters. Minutes of the meeting held on 23 October 1963 discuss the future expansion of the bookshop following the increase in student numbers expected as a result of the report of the Robbins Committee to the government on the expansion of higher education
There are occasional references to thefts from the bookshop in minutes of earlier meetings, but the committee emphasised this issue in the meeting held on 14 January 1966, and the minutes record details of the discussion on stealing and unpaid debts, referred from the Senate Executive Committee, with particular reference to an article that appeared in the student paper 'Wall' entitled 'how to steal from Hudsons'. The committee discussed the level of theft, preventative measures to take, and student discipline. It also discussed ways of dealing with unpaid debt. Minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 1968 discuss security in the bookshop following a request by the Finance and General Purposes Committee for the issue to be considered by the Bookshop Committee, and the committee continued to discuss bookshop security issues in 1969
Minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 1967 include a copy of the University Grants Committee Parry Committee on Libraries report which addressed undergraduate expenditure on text books
The committe held a special meeting on 30 April 1968 to discuss student representation on the Bookshop Committee following the circulation of the Guild of Undergraduates memorandum 'The Student Role'. The committee recommended that one student representative of the Guild should be invited to become a member of the University Bookshop Committee provided that the student member withdraw from meeting when personal or confidential matters affecting members of staff of University or Bookshop were discussed. By the time of the meeting held on 24 November 1970 research staff and students were represented on the Bookshop Committee.
The most pressing issue discussed by the committee during the 1970s was the shortage of space for the bookshop and the need for additional accommodation. In 1970 additional accommodation was provided in temporary huts on campus. There was apparently no meeting in 1971, but minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 1972 discuss the flexibility of use of the University Centre building and refer to ongoing discussion at the Planning and Priorities Committee about the development of the University Centre. Minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 1973 include further discussion about alternative accommodation.
Minutes of the meeting hed on 8 November 1974 include a copy of the report of the Bookshop Committee to Senate on the provision of further suitable accommodation for the Bookshop, following a recommendation to Council in 1973 and from Council to the Planning and Priorities which had suggested the construction of a new building near Library but financed by Hudsons, rather than the University. Since Hudsons had said they could not afford to fund a new building, the Bookshop Committee now recommended the use of an exhibition room in the University Centre to display textbooks, and the possible conversion of existing buildings into bookshop accommodation, though plans drawn up by Planning and Priorities Committee were borne in mind
It seems that the need for additional accommodation was acute by the time of the report of the University Bookshop Committee to Senate in 1977, due to increasing student numbers resulting in overcrowding and congestion, and the lack of space to display new stock. Minutes of the Bookshop Committee meeting held on 11 November 1977 state that committee thought insufficient pressure had been brought to bear on the University in order to persuade it to to provide additional accommodation for the bookshop, ideally in the University Centre, though the committee made a number of suggestions recorded in the minutes.
Minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 1979 include a copy of the Bookshop Committee report to Senate in December 1979 on the prospect of expanded bookshop accommodation. Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 1980 include a copy of the report to Senate which notes that the University Centre Committee was planning to make space available for academic activities in the University Centre and puts forward the Bookshop Committee's view that additional bookshop accommodation should be provided. This report also acknowledges the difficult financial climate.
Minutes of the meeting held on 29 October 1982 discuss Hudsons renting space in the University Centre.
Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 1984 include a copy of the report of the Bookshop Manager to the Bookshop Committee, addressing performance, staffing, reading lists, second hand books, and the possible introduction of VAT on books and journals. Minutes of subsequent meetings routinely include copies of the Bookshop Managers report. Minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 1986 include a report and architectural plans for a refit of the bookshop, and minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 1987 discuss access to the basement level of the bookshop for customers with disabilities, as well as the change of name to Dillons, University Bookshop.
The final meeting of the committee was held on 14 December 1989. The committee was abolished in accordance with the recommendation of the Strategy, Planning and Resources Committee to Senate and Council. The Bookshop Manager would now liaise directly with the Registrar and Secretary on occasions when University advice or assistance was necessary. This abolition was part of a general restructuring and streamlining of the University Committee system, made in order to implement the recommendations of the Jarratt Report on Efficiency and Management |