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Students at Sask Polytech in Prince Albert say there were no official warnings ahead of the bookstore closure. This poster was only put up once the shop had shut down. (Aishah Ashraf\/CBC)<\/p>\nWhen first-year hairstyling student Julie Jenkins returned to class at Saskatchewan Polytechnic after being home sick for a week, she thought she was just behind on her lessons.<\/p>\n
What she didn\u2019t know was that the bookstore on the Prince Albert campus was abruptly and quietly shutting its doors. Like some other students, Jenkins hadn\u2019t yet bought all her books for the year due to insufficient funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, she\u2019s relying on online orders that could take weeks to arrive, not to mention the added uncertainties from the ongoing postal strike.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the wait for your books, you’re going to have to wait and your classes are going to just keep moving forward, so you’re going to fall behind,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Both the Prince Albert and Moose Jaw campus bookstores at Saskatchewan Polytechnic closed Oct. 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a written statement, Sask Polytech said it \u201ccontinues to work to address a significant decline in revenue in its 2025-26 budget, created by a sharp decline in international student enrolment.\u201d The school declined to comment any further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Students at Sask Polytech in Prince Albert say there were no official warnings ahead of the bookstore closure. This poster was only put up once the shop had shut down. (Aishah Ashraf\/CBC)<\/p>\n
The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees\u2019 Union, which represents the affected workers, said 10 employees will lose their jobs. Union president Tracey Sauer said in a news release \u201cthere is no justification\u201d for the move, and that students and staff are being punished for management\u2019s failure to plan ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The closures are part of broader cost-cutting measures across the institution. Sask Polytech has laid off 41 employees since April and merged or dissolved several departments in an effort to save money.<\/p>\n
Students say the news came with little warning \u2014 and even less guidance on what to do next.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Some students discovered the bookstore was shutting down when it had its final sale. (Aishah Ashraf\/CBC)<\/p>\n
First-year business student Elvis Sanderson said instructors only mentioned the closure about a week in advance. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they could have told us in person a month before closing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said he worries most about his classmates from northern Saskatchewan. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t have permanent addresses,\u201d he said. \u201cThey come from little towns [and] reservations.\u2026 They have box numbers. If they were to get them delivered there, it wouldn\u2019t be very convenient for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
For second-year hairstyling student Kayden Machula, the closure felt like the rug was being pulled from under students. He found out only on the day the store shut its doors. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like they\u2019re taking something that is a big support to students,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a place where you could ask questions and find everything you would need, whereas now you\u2019re kind of reliant on yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The campus bookstore carried everything from textbooks and school supplies to school merchandise and gifts. (Aishah Ashraf\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Machula said any shift to digital learning makes it harder for him to stay focused. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love handheld copies,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s easier for me to pay attention as I have ADHD. I can actually highlight and take notes.\u2026 It feels like everything getting moved online is going to make things a lot more tricky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff on location this week were seen packing up the remaining supplies, but it\u2019s unclear what the school plans to do with the leftover stock. <\/p>\n
Greg Elliott, director of library services at the Prince Albert Public Library, said the public library doesn’t generally carry textbooks that students would need. He said he would be concerned if students were expected to rely on digital materials, as print materials play a key role in comprehension.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople tend to learn better through reading things and physical materials,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re just reading it off screen, it tends to lapse. It tends to just be in short-term memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sask Polytech said it plans to provide an update on the situation later this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When first-year hairstyling student Julie Jenkins returned to class at Saskatchewan Polytechnic after being home sick for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[359,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-124862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}