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University of Toronto Bookstore began as the Students' Books Department in 1897.
A staff member of the University library, Miss McMicking, had been given permission
to sell books to students when she was not on duty and to store her stock in
the basement of the library. The volume of sales grew rapidly and eventually
her health required that she give up the enterprise. In 1904 the Students' Book
Department was taken over by Mr. R.J. Hamilton as a private business under an
agreement made with the Library Committee of the University.
As sales of the Book
Department continued to grow, complications began to arise. In 1905 retail
booksellers in Toronto filed a protest with the Ontario government regarding
the Book Department. Hamilton was able to prove that no off-campus sales
were sought, and a sign was posted in the department indicating that customers
who were not students or faculty members should take their business elsewhere.
This is no longer the case and the Bookstore
is now open to the public. During this period
the University
of Toronto Press also inhabited the library basement and was managed
by Hamilton. In 1907 it was suggested that the press and the Book department
amalgamate. The idea was rejected based on an argument that Hamilton could
negotiate better discounts with publishers as an independent bookseller.
The Students' Book Department
continued to prosper under Hamilton. Book Department letterhead in 1910 carried
the statement, "Importers of college text books and books of reference
- Shipments received regularly from United States, England, France, Germany
and Italy." Hamilton made arrangement for books to be sent on approval
for inspection by faculty members, an innovation made 50 years prior to an
approval plan established by the University.
In 1920 the University
requested that the space occupied by the Students' Book Department and the
Press (which was also managed by Hamilton) be returned. Both the Press and
the Book Department had greatly expanded, so the Press financed the construction
of a new building in the southwest area of the campus, where the Galbraith
Building is now located. The Students' Book Department occupied a large area
of the ground floor of the building, as tenant.
The idea of the Students'
Book Department amalgamating with the University
of Toronto Press resurfaced in 1932. By 1934 the Press had purchased
Hamilton's financial interest in the Book Department and gave it the name
"University of Toronto Press Book Department". At that time,
records show that entire staff of the Book Department consisted of four
persons, with the addition of student help at busy seasons.
By 1946 the lack of physical
space had once again become a problem. Every fall, the students were lined
up along King's College Road and stretched down the sidewalk towards College
Street. Inside, the space between the entrance and the counter was a "mass
of struggling humanity". In 1948 a one-storey building was erected south
of Hart House and east of University College to "temporarily" house
the Book Department. It remained in this "temporary" location for
10 years.
In 1954 concern was expressed
that the current Book Department needed to expand its services in order
"to operate a Bookstore in the interests in the University Community".
These services included a "special
order department that procures books from the four corners of the
world", the retention of trained key staff year-round and the carrying
of an inventory of some 15,000 individual titles reflecting the varied
courses at the University of Toronto. Of course, the creation of these
services required the acquisition of physical space. In 1958 a new Press
building was constructed on King's College Circle, facing southeast toward
the front campus. The ground floor of this building was designed specifically
for the Book Department, complete with fixtures and showcases that could
be re-arranged to provide adequate counter space in the rush period and
attractive displays throughout the rest of the year. At this time, the
name of the store was changed to the University of Toronto Bookroom. The Bookroom continued
to thrive in this location but, as the population of the University continued
to grow, so did the need for a larger space. In 1966 a new location (formally
a dairy truck garage) at 280 Huron Street was acquired for the Bookroom.
Students were required to purchase texts
(and computer
products as of 1984) from the Huron Street location, and trade
books, medical books and stationery
from the King's College Circle location. Again, this was supposed to be
a temporary location, but the two stores remained in these locations for
almost 20 years.
In the 60s and 70s,
the University was expanding at an incredible rate. During this time,
two new colleges were developed - one in Scarborough and one in Mississauga.
It seemed logical that the Press operate the bookstores at each of these
locations, and accordingly the Scarborough College Bookstore (now The
UTSC Bookstore) was opened in
1966 and the Erindale College Bookstore (Now the UTM
Bookstore) in 1973.
In 1981 the Bookroom
began to expand its role in the literary community with the establishment
of a reading series. Book readings and signings were organized in on-
and off-campus locations, small cafés, and theatre spaces. The
University of Toronto Reading Series still
thrives today and has hosted such notable authors as Margaret Atwood,
John Updike, Robertson Davies, and Salman Rushdie. In 1985 both downtown
locations were again combined in what had originally been the Toronto
Reference Library. Built in 1909 as a Carnegie library and purchased by
the University in 1980, the building had been declared a historical site,
boasting 30-foot ceilings, marble staircases and 1.5 miles of oak shelving.
Shortly after the move to this building, the name was changed again to
the University of Toronto Bookstore. The
downtown campus Bookstore still resides in this heritage building, known
as the Koffler Student Centre.
In the early 80s the
Bookstore began to experiment with periodicals designed to draw the public's
attention to new books of interest. The rise of desktop publishing finally
made such a venture feasible, and in the fall of 1987 the first issue
of the U of T Bookstore Review appeared. This
quarterly book review publication continues to this day, with a mailing
list that encompasses all of Canada and several other countries. Throughout the 90s
the University of Toronto has expanded to a total of seven locations across
the three campuses. These include the Campus
General Store (1995), the Hart
House Shop (1995), the Victoria
University Bookstore (1996) and the Varsity
Sports Store (2000).
Since 1998 the U
of T Bookstore has been named Campus Bookseller of the Year five times
by the Canadian Booksellers Association, including the current designation
for 2006.
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