The next chapter
IONA LEAF and WILL LUKER delve into some of the county’s independent bookshops that are growing in popularity
READING books and buying books are two separate joys, and buying books is even more fun when the bookshop itself is one of a kind. With more than 15 independent bookshops dotted around Gloucestershire, we are spoiled for choice.
Whether they are at the top of a hill or hidden away from the busy High Street, like a moth to a flame readers will always find their preferred bookshop but here in the county they don’t just provide an aesthetic shopping experience. Speaking to three bookshop owners, it’s clear that they are crucial to the cultural wellbeing of Gloucestershire’s society.
It’s not only about browsing and buying, these shops are a hub for community. They can be a family’s livelihood and they can create an accessible way to educate children.
The authenticity of a physical book, almost a novelty in this age of technology, grew popular over lockdown when many people ‘“got fed up with the obvious entertainment sources like TV and film, and they rediscovered the pleasure of reading” owner of Stroud Bookshop, Charles Tongue says.
Opening the shop in 1992, Charles believes that the whole pressure of modern life is to go faster and faster, and what he likes about books is that they slow you down.
“Obviously with lockdowns it was difficult, but when lockdown ended it was like Christmas every week, so the footfall was massive during those periods,” Charles adds. “I think it’s crucial that people have access to books, generally. Books are the most important thing that you can have, for educating children and for quality of life, everybody can be learning stuff at any age.”
Recent figures from the Booksellers Association found that the number of independent bookshops opening in 2023 across the UK surpassed the same measure in the previous year, with 51 indies – as well as several branches of Waterstones, Eason and Dubray – opening during, compared to 49 indies opening in 2022. However, the number of independent bookshop closures has increased on 2022, leading to a situation where the net number of indies in the UK has fallen by 0.8 per cent.
But it’s not all negative as the number of independent bookshops in BA membership at the end of 2023 was 1,063, down from 1,072 in 2022, though still significantly up from the lowest point on record of 867 in 2016.
Finding more customers during lockdown from people contacting them via email, Hereward Corbett, bookseller at The Yellow-lighted Bookshop in Tetbury, says: “When Covid came along, you couldn’t get people into the bookshop, so we had to sell online, and we set up a transactional website within a week.”
He says that they discovered: “there is nothing people in the community like more than a friendly bookseller turning up at the end of their path with a bag full of books and a cheery hello.”
Opening the bookshop in Tetbury in 2008, as well as another one in Nailsworth, Hereward shares a similar sentiment to Charles on why independent books and the physical copy itself is important. “What we sell is important to people because books are pretty cool.” Mentioning that The Yellow-lighted Bookshop
When lockdown ended it was like Christmas every week
Charles Tongue
does a lot of work with nearby schools, Hereward says: “We are working with Read for Good in Nailsworth to get more books into the hands of children whose families don’t normally buy books but it isn’t just about buying books as we get a lot of customers who come in because we are community focused,” And he goes on to explain that the warmer people feel towards a bookshop, the more they will feel customers come on a journey of discovery inside a bookshop.
Another seller in the county is Octavia’s Bookshop in Cirencester. Describing her job as a “complete joy”, Octavia Emanuel has always been proudly independent.
“There’s just something magical about what surprises you can find in a bookshop,” Octavia says.
“There’s a value to the knowledge a book seller has in recommending books for everybody in the local community, especially children because it can open up their eyes to something completely new.”
The popularity of an independent bookshop also matters, Octavia mentions, because: “I think during Covid and when the world is pushing further and further into technology, people are perhaps seeking some sort of nostalgia from their childhood where it’s a particular comfort. Covid, like other independent small businesses in the county, has made communities realise the thought of ‘use our shops or lose them’.”