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| Sarah Dennis, owner and manager of Mostly Books in Abingdon |
We wanted to do something to reflect everything that bookshops represent, and the children’s takeover is it. Bookshops aren’t the same as other shops, they aren’t simply a place to go and buy something, they are so much more than that.
When I look back on my university days, I clearly remember getting away from it all by heading to the sofa on the second floor of Waterstones, Deansgate. I don’t remember what section of the shop it was, I just remember the sofa. It was small, comfortable and usually free. University was brilliant but it was non-stop and those visits to the bookshop gave me some much needed ‘me’ time. I was in a place where no-one asked me what I was doing or told me to move and it was simply OK for me to grab a book and read.
Fast forward 20-odd years, I now own my own bookshop. It’s small, independent and (if I don’t say so myself) it’s gorgeous. Every member of the team thinks about bookshops in the same way, so we do everything possible to make sure that our shop is that place, where people can go to just be (obviously, it would be great if they bought books too….)...
In this day and age, where technology rules all, the comment we hear time and time again as people enter the shop is "I love the smell of books". They will often grab the nearest one and flick through it, it clearly takes them off into a different world. Books unite everyone that visits, regardless of where they are from and what they do when they aren’t in the shop. Everyone has a love of books in common and that immediately means that we have something to talk about.
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Source: The Bookseller
