Victorian Government Bookshop - closed/finished/done and dusted

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loamer

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Rant begins: My wonderful little bookshop closed on 30 June. I know we are not supposed to get political, but which Luddite made this decision??? Apparently based on requiring a full cost recovery, even though it was a service provided to taxpayers. They were great, it was an excellent shop (remember bookshops?), the staff were excellent, they would find books 'out of print' that they still held, excellent maps, great face to face service, great on-line service. Now we are left with what? Tramping around a myriad of websites, dealing with automated responses, having to deal with commercial retailers selling the same items now marked up to the shizer, no 'one stop shop'. Yes, very, very angry. Local member's response? (I asked for honesty,not fluff) We are in the 21 century and need to acknowledge modern technology blah, blah, blah. Because I live in an electorate where this 'chap' (who barracks for Carlton - 'nuff said!!) is safe and I can never hope he loses, I will vote informal at the next election by writing 'open the bloody bookshop you spankers.' on my ballot paper. Rant Ends
 
I know its not the same but I can recommend a store in Frankston.
http://www.timebooksellers.com.au/
Found me a 1940 government book copy of a local goldfield report including geo maps etc. I was chasing for NSW. Didn't expect to find it in Victoria. Good service & real people with names :)
 
Thanks mate - I use them all the time. I got the majority of my Brough-Smyths from them. Very fair prices and they usually have a pre-xmas sale for their regulars. I use the on-line email and website services as well. Great for rural buyers.
 
Their prices are great - was quoted double elsewhere for the same book I was chasing. Will be using them more now. Was a hard book to find too - now just have to put the research into exploring potential new spots :lol:
For any newbies reading this these old books are worth their weight in gold for areas with not much info or maps available & are a great starting point for researching. To me finding them is a treasure in itself. Can understand the disappointment of the other store being closed down.
 
Closing Govt Bookshops is a short-sighted thing. I got put through to the Personal Assistant assisting the Minister, assisting the door man, assisting the toilet cleaner - that's how low on their priority list I was. Spoke to a Gen X'er - he lectured me about broadband, use of the net, tech assistance for the elderly (!!) etc. I got so angry I told him "heard of a new download app. called 'phone getting slammed down?" No he replied. "Well listen to this" SLAM. Patronising jerk.

I have the brain the size of a planet and I have to deal with shopping trollies (apologies to Hitchhikers Guide)
 
That's a pity loamer, if I remember correctly, that's where you managed to find that old book on the SA goldfields a while back? Politicians tend to be pretty short sighted when it comes to saving money unfortunately. If everything is online, why would we bother to visit bookshops in the first place (aside from not owning a computer, or being computer savvy). I like to look at old books regarding their historical context, especially if out of print and not available to the general public in scanned form.
 
Sad thing is this may be just the tip of the iceberg .... was speaking to one of the Cartographers a while back and he indicated quite a few changes are coming ... his dept. wants to be able to provide service but for a variety of reasons direct queries will be a thing of the past ... more online resources ...... if you can find then in the rehashed web pages.
 

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