Blackwell's bookshops are being sold off after being in the Blackwell's family for 143 years.  The most likely buyers are private equity firms who will probably break up the group and also change the way Blackwell's works. Can you imagine Oxford without the Norrington Room, Edinburgh without its distinctive store, or Cambridge without Heffers?

This isn't just a shop, it is about education.  It isn't just about the cities in which Blackwell's reside, it is about all the international visitors every year who open their minds by experiencing the stores and the material they can buy online.

Blackwell's and their associated stores provide a deep level of knowledge through stocking specialist and generalist books and other material which cannot be found in other places.  This isn't just a bookshop, this is a Blackwell's bookshop. 

We need to set up a dialogue with the Board to persuade them that private equity isn't the way forward and to ask them to work on finding another solution.  This petition will show them just how many people care about Blackwell's and who want to spare it from being asset stripped and turned into a dumbed down version of itself.

Please sign this petition to find a buyer for Blackwell's who will preserve its ethos and continue its important educational role in our society.