About The Guide

Hello! We are Sonja and Ivan. And this is our Bookstore Guide - an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe. We hope this Guide will help you find the book(stores) you are looking for. Unfortunately, the bookstores are no longer uploaded and may be out of date

Barter Books, Alnwick

Barter Books logo

Where?
Alnwick, Northumberland, UK




Recommended by
Angi Holden

Angi said: "On the way up to Scotland, we stopped in Alnwick, at Barter Books. It's a fascinating second hand bookstore accommodated in a Victorian railway station. The staff are knowledgeable, the books are well arranged in a spacious environment, and there's a small coffee area. Barter also has a searchable online catalogue. There's an impressive mural featuring famous writers. All told, well angworth a visit."

It struck us as a surprise to see that bookstore of such a capacity, superiority and reputation has not yet found its way to our Guide. Barter Books, located in the history rich county of Northumberland in the far north of England, has earned the honorable description of being called "the British Library of secondhand bookshops" by The New Statesman.

Barter Books can easily be somewhere at the top of our bookstores-located-in-odd-places category (together with, for example, Selexyz Dominicanen and Leakey's, both located in what used to be churches), as it occupies the space of an old Victorian railway station, spanning on some 10,000 square feet. The station itself was designed by William Bell and put in business in 1887. By 1968, the railway station was closed and in 1991 Barter Books took over the premises, making the number of visitors to this building far greater than it used to be once the train operated in this town. An interesting piece of information is that this bookstore receives over 200,000 visitors a year and is considered a local tourist attraction.

The name of the bookstore reflects its manner of dealing with payments, namely, the use of their barter system where customers can exchange their used books for store credit. Barter Books is also rather known for the poster located near the cash register. The poster, saying "Keep Calm and Carry On" is a rare relic from the Second World War, which was only intended to become public in the worst scenario - a Nazi invasion of the British territory. For more interesting facts about this poster, and the story of its discovery in Barter Books, try browsing through the info on the bookstore's website.

Needless to add, the stock of a bookstore of such size and reputation is far from a modest one. The books range from such categories as paperback and fiction, poetry and plays, history, philosophy or women studies to crime, biography, business and economics and even such topics as transport, maritime, gardening, needlework, etc. Barter Books also has several special features which make it stand out further among others: open fires in the winter, a station buffet with a menu made up of home-made and/or locally sourced food (both hot and cold) and speciality coffees and teas, a children's room filled with toys and even a model railway between the columns of books in the central room. The bookstore's staff, known for their friendliness, loyalty and knowledge, is always there at your disposal. It's like anything an independent bookstore should be. Barter Book's owners, Stuart and Mary Manley, have indeed created a role model among bookstores, as well as something extraordinary.

Barter Books won the 2013 Vintage Shop of the Year Award and it is the home of the original Keep Calm and Carry on poster :)

Barter Books AlnwickBarter Books
Address:
Alnwick Station
Northumberland
NE66 2NP England
Barter Books bookshop









 

Website: http://www.barterbooks.co.uk

Phone and Email:
(0)1665 604888
bb@barterbooks.co.uk

Working Hours:
Mon-Sun 9-19
(apart from Xmas Day)



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Fabula Urbis, Lisbon



Where?
Lisbon, Portugal



Recommended by:
John Cade from Girona

John said: "Fabula Urbis lies on the Rua de Augusta Rosa which climbs along the well trodden tourist route from the Sé Cathedral to the Castelo de São Jorge. It is a flagship bearing the cultural offerings of the city of Lisbon past and present. The authors represented have either lived in Lisbon, passed through it or perhaps just simply heard of it! The subjects offered cover a huge area - poetry, essays, novels, painting, sculpture, photography, pottery, tile making, textiles, fabrics and fashion, theater, cinema, opera, music, astronomy, archaeology, gastronomy, history, politics, urbanismo (the streets and trams and gardens and cafes of the city), travelers impressions.

Situated above the bookshop is a room impeccably designed with a stage and piano. It is used for evening recitals and exhibitions of paintings or photography, the latter changing generally once a month. Customers can relax there with a coffee or tea. A practicing guitarist or pianist will welcome an audience! Fabula Urbis is not simply a bookshop, exquisite as it is. It is a meeting place of the Arts and a place where strangers meet. Fabula Urbis is quite simply in a class of its own - sui generis!"

Fabula Urbis was opened on the 21st of March 2007 with the ambition of becoming much more than an ordinary bookstore. A bit more than two years past this date, it can proudly declare that it has achieved its objective of becoming a new cultural landmark in the city of Lisbon. The founder of this bookstore decided to combine his passion for books and the city of Lisbon and turned the small premises at Rua de Augusto Rosa 27 (you can find out more about the history of this famous Lisbon street bearing the name of the actor, director and writer Augusto Rosa on the bookstore's website), which formerly served as a carpentry workshop, into a space dedicated to the city of Lisbon and all the related subjects. The Lisbon-focused stock holds around 3000 titles, more than 1/5 of them being in foreign languages (including English, French, Spanish, Italian or German).

One more interesting piece of information related to Fabula Urbis - the ravens in the logo of this bookstore also demonstrate its affiliation with Lisbon, as a raven is also the symbol of the city. The legend goes that when the corpse of St. Vincent, the patron of the city, was transported by ship to Lisbon back in 1171, two ravens were guarding his body during the whole journey all the way to Lisbon - they symbolize loyalty and are also seen as guards of the city.

Fabula Urbis InsideFabula Urbis
Address:
R. de Augusto Rosa, 27
1100-058 Lisbon
Fabula Urbis Lisabon










Website:
http://www.fabula-urbis.pt

Phone and Email:
00351 21 888 50 32
fabula-urbis@fabula-urbis.pt

Working Hours:
Mon-Sun 10-14 and 15-20



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An Insight into the Current State of Independent Bookselling – An Introduction


Will your favorite independent bookstore still be there when you start searching for the right gifts for your family and friends before Christmas? And does anyone even care?
bookshop closedWe tend to think so. In our point of view, independent bookstores, or simply indies, represent an important and often irreplaceable part of the identity of specific neighborhoods or, in some cases, even whole cities. It is undeniable, that within the past two decades, many of these unique bookstores have simply vanished, some in complete silence, some accompanied by loud expressions of discontent from their loyal customers.

Numerous voices have been predicting the extinction of indies for quite some time and there have also been many initiatives aimed at raising awareness about this situation and at supporting independent bookselling (we like to think that Bookstore Guide belongs to this category as well). Several groups or forces have been labeled as the nemesis of the independent bookstore – chain bookstores, Amazon.com and online bookselling in general, ignorant public, the global financial crisis, and this list could go on and on.

We have decided to explore this issue in depth in this series of articles entitled “An Insight into the Current State of Independent Bookselling”. And although we can’t and we don’t even want to pretend that our stance is neutral, we will do our best not to get too carried away and to provide you with the clearest possible image of the current situation, backed up by a factual account of how we got there and perhaps even offer a few hints regarding its possible future development. We have decided to divide this report into several parts since indies have to face challenges at several fronts at the same time, and mixing them all together could just cause more confusion. We also have an ambition to provide you with some opinions and first-hand experience from people who are directly involved in this issue in one way or another. We will thus do our best to present the most interesting insider perspectives on diverse aspects of this complex topic written exclusively for Bookstore Guide by selected most competent authors.


indie bookstores closingNeedless to stress, that we’re also hoping for some feedback from your part, as we’re absolutely sure that you have your own opinion on this problem. So, before we move on to exploring the various and often conflicting aspects of our rather wide subject, lets state the introductory question clearly right away – is a brick-and-mortar independent bookstore just a relic of the past? Are we blinded by our own nostalgia to admit that there are easier, more comfortable and cheaper ways to get the books we desire? Follow our attempts at an honest answer in the upcoming series of articles…

_ _
More articles from this series:
Independent Bookstores in Danger of Extinction – Who is to Blame?

Independent Booksellers and the Fixed Book Price: a Horror Story?

Chain Bookstores: The Rise, Struggle and Downfall?

Independent Booksellers: What Can Be Done To Help?

An Interview with an Antiquarian Bookseller: The Caretaker


Literaturhaus: Books, Words and Much Much More

eBooks - a Risk or an Opportunity?

The Publisher's Role in the Emerging eBook Market
_ _
Back to the full list of Articles

Treasure Trove, Tervuren

treasure trove logo

Where? Tervuren, Belgium



Recommended by: Joanneke Elliot

Joanneke said: "I would like to tell you about a children’s book store, Treasure Trove, located in Tervuren, Belgium. After serving a loyal clientele for thirty years in nearby Moorsel, new owners moved the store to this cosy town in December 2008. It is the only English-language bookshop in Brussels that specializes in children’s books. I was a happy patron of Treasure Trove in its previous incarnation, but was so excited by the newly outfitted store that I applied for a part-time position there as soon as it opened its doors.

The new site is on a busy high street in Tervuren, an affluent, family-friendly area popular with Brussels’ thousands of English-reading and speaking expatriates, as well as with English-fluent locals. It is also conveniently close to several English private international schools. The new location is delightfully cosy, with comfortable areas to sit and read or linger to discover new titles. Treasure Trove has designated areas for babies to early readers, and junior fiction and non-fiction up to young adult. The different sections also include books on parenting, dyslexia and English as a Second Language for children and teens.

The staff is dedicated and very knowledgeable. With published authors and international school librarians among their ranks, they have strong connections to the English-language community in Brussels. At the moment they are developing an extensive website to accompany the personal and enthusiastic newsletter that is sent out every month. They also host several children’s events such as author visits, story-time, summer reading parties, and story contests."

Treasure Trove, a specialized children's bookstore in Tervuren near Brussels, offers a very rare combination - enthusiasm, ambition and energy of the new along with the stability, experience and cherished tradition and reputation of the old. There's no doubt that it will be very interesting to follow the journey of Treasure Trove in its new locality and we are sure that it will soon find its clientele, both new and old. There is not much we can add to this informative and ample recommendation, just that it has definitely managed to convince us that discovering this bookstore may definitely be a true treasure to many parents and especially children.

treasure trove brusselsTreasure Trove
Address:
Brusselsesteenweg 7
Tervuren
treasure trove bookstore









Website:
http://www.treasuretrove.be/

Phone and Email:
+32 02 767 7476
books@treasuretrove.be

Working Hours:
Tue-Sat 10-18



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