Bookshop of the Month: May Drake the Bookshop Can you tell us more about Drake the Bookshop, why you decided to open a bookshop and how it’s evolved? Unfortunately, I had fallen out of love with teaching and during a weekend away we came across a bookshop and cafe in Penrith. It seemed like a great place and led to a few conversations about the fact it might be something we could do. The Christmas break of that year our son pointed out that we had spent a long time chatting about opening a bookshop and were we going to do it? Nine months later in September 2015 we opened in a start up hub on Stockton high street in a space 125 square feet. A year later having grown to 250 square feet we moved on to Silver Street into our own shop and from there in 2021 we expanded again and opened the children's shop.  On your website, you have a definition of a bookshop as a “sanctuary, welcoming place, refuge, treasure trove, portal to other worlds, safe space, beating heart of high street...

   Bookshop of the Month (April) The Edinburgh Bookshop Interviewee: Fiona (children's specialist) Can you tell us more about the Edinburgh Bookshop, and what drew you to work there?  The Edinburgh Bookshop is a small-but-stuffed, award-winning, independent bookshop based in the Bruntsfield area of the city. Besides being across the road from one of the best ice cream parlours in town (!), the shop's community spirit and focus on young readers was a real draw to work there, as well as the wonderful close-knit team of passionate booksellers, led by the inimitable Marie Moser, which I am now proud to be a part of. The Edinburgh Bookshop hosts author events and book clubs for children and young people. How important is having in-person events at the bookshop? A building full of books (most of which you haven't read) can be exciting for many but intimidating as well. Knowing that authors are just regular people too and were once children like them is encouraging and often rea...

   Bookshop of the Month (February) Pritchards Bookshop Interviewee: Amy Wright (owner) Can you tell us more about Pritchards Bookshop? Pritchards has been in Crosby village since 1975, and I bought it in 2021 once original owner Steve Pritchard retired. We have recently moved to a bigger premises and are going from strength to strength. I have been able to build on this local institution and bring new customers in on top of our very loyal existing customer base. What, for you, is so special about children's books?  I love children’s books and have fond memories of my favourites as a child: Roald Dahl, Goosebumps, Babysitter’s Club, Point Horror. And my own children, who are 6 and 8, love books. Myself and my husband read to them both every night before bed since they were born, so now they read to themselves before bed which brings me such joy, knowing we helped instill that love of reading. There’s nothing I love more in the shop than when a child comes in super excited...

  Bookshop of the Month (January) The Children's Bookshop (Lindley, Huddersfield) Interviewee: Nicola Lee (Owner) Can you tell us more about The Children's Bookshop? The Children’s Bookshop recently moved property (just down the road) so we have a lovely bright colourful space full of books for children of all ages. We also sell some games and toys. Our aim is to provide the best quality books for children and young people in a safe and fun environment, and encourage children to read for pleasure. We consider ourselves a welcoming space for all people and wish to be a friendly presence in Lindley.  We organise author events in schools, and in-house events and activities; we host pre-schools for story sessions and school children who have earned a reward or are choosing books for their school; we do half-termly book bonanzas for schools; we supply books to schools for libraries and reading corners; we do bookstalls at reading/teaching conferences. If we can encourage children t...

We are all aware of how difficult small businesses are finding it at the moment. Our hearts are particularly with the bookshops across the North and Scotland who are struggling as they keep their doors safely closed. It's been amazing to see the support from the publishing industry and individuals online doing their best to shout about the bookselling services still being provided across our regions. Indiebookshops.com have put together an interactive map of all independent bookshops and the level of service they’re currently providing, making it really easy to find booksellers in the North and Scotland. This has recently been updated to include online booksellers and will continue to be regularly updated. Indiebookshops.com Books from Scotland are also providing a one-stop directory listing all bookshops offering a home delivery or click & collect service. Booksfromscotland.com And you can also order via Hive ,  Waterstones  and Blackwells  ...