A university without a campus bookshop?

Lincoln may yet become the only university in New Zealand without a bookshop after delaying a decision on the future of the facility following backlash from staff and students.

The university notified staff in November of a proposal to close the bookshop and associated printing and postal services, which at that time were located in the same building.

A petition launched by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU), opposing the move, was signed by nearly 400 people – evidence, its local branch presidents said, of the sense of disbelief and anger triggered by the proposal.

‘‘It’s a very important part of staff and student life, and to not have that was sort of unbelievable really. We would’ve ended up possibly being the only university in the world without a bookshop,’’ Shona Mardle said.

That may well still be the case.

In a statement, Lincoln University chief operating officer Phillipa Jones said the university had decided to redistribute its postal and printing services from the bookshop to another part of the campus.

Jones did not respond to questions about what was happening to the bookshop in the interim, but said it had decided to take ‘‘more time to consider the service delivery model for its retail service’’.

‘‘Students are now able to buy textbooks and other goods online, and a different model is needed to better cater for the student needs of today.

‘‘A new student cafe´ is being developed with potential for a small retail outlet to be located centrally,’’ she said.

The university was working with the bookshop’s four staff ‘‘to manage the transition of services’’ and to ‘‘seek redeployment opportunities’’.

Mardle said the staff members were told at a meeting with university management on Wednesday that the bookshop would be located elsewhere on campus in the short term.

‘‘But it’s still very much up in the air. It’s still very insecure for those four people,’’ she said.

In late 2016, the university announced plans to axe 51 staff, while a a report released by its transformation board late last year described it as ‘‘underperforming’’ and enrolments remained lower than desired.

The university achieved its first operating surplus in a decade in 2016, of $493,000, but it ‘‘remains to be seen’’ how sustainable its improved financial performance would be, the report said.

Lincoln University Students’ Association president James Ranstead said the proposal had been surprising and if the printery, in particular, had been lost, it would have had a significant effect.

He supported the university’s decision to move the bookshop and other services, adding he understood the space in the George Forbes building would be used for a student area.