Librarians and independent booksellers have a lot in common

Last Thursday (29th March) Lord Bird, a prominent antipoverty campaigner, hosted a debate in the House of Lords to introduce the Independent Bookshop Alliance- founded by Simon Key of Big Green Books (@biggreenbooks).

The event brought together publishers, independent booksellers and other interested groups to look at the issues facing independent booksellers and the role we all play in supporting literacy. Author Ben Aaronovitch spoke of the important role libraries and independent bookshops have in recommending titles to readers, and highlighted the skills librarians and booksellers use to support their communities. Other speakers included Meryl Hall of the Booksellers Association, Daren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England and Jo McCrum the Society of Authors. Mandy Powell was there to represent CILIP and spoke of the role librarians play in supporting literacy.
 
"Hello, my name is Mandy Powell and I’m proud to represent CILIP- the library and information association here today. 

We support and champion the work of library and information professionals, and I’ve worked in libraries for over 20 years, but I actually owe my first real break to my local independent bookshop. 

The first library assistant job I tried for I didn’t get, I failed the interview, I had no experience, no customer care skills. So I went to my local bookshop and asked if I could work for free on a Monday, and in return would the owners train me in how to help people find the books they wanted to read? They looked a bit bewildered but, bless them, they not only took me on, but they paid me, so I very cheekily walked into a job that didn’t exist! And the work I did there stood me in good stead during my career as I trained to become a librarian. 
 
Librarians and independent booksellers have a lot in common, we both foster a love of reading, we both encourage curiosity, and there is at least one other biggy that we share, but I’ll come back to that in a moment.

The recent scandals involving Cambridge Analytica and Facebook show us there is a desperate need for trusted sources of information, and speaking of which, visits to public libraries in the UK exceeded 240 million last years…that’s over 240 million visits, and the largest group was among 15-24 year olds. I think this shows a real thrust for knowledge.
 
A recent report from the Children's Commissioner warns that children from poorer families in the North of England are at risk of being left behind, they face an education gap that starts before school and continues to grow as they get older. We shouldn’t be surprised if literacy levels drop off a cliff if the vital role libraries and bookshops play in supporting literacy isn’t fully recognised. Our economic success depends on people being literate; developing the skills they need to succeed, to me this means more libraries and better supported independent bookshops.

Oxford University researchers have shown that of all the extracurricular activities that make a difference to future workplace success, reading for pleasure is the most significant. 
 
I said at the start that there was another thing librarians and independent bookseller have in common – we know our communities. Librarians know their users and booksellers know their customers, we need to make sure that everyone understands the role we all play in supporting literacy."

You can find more coverage of the launch in The Big Issue.

Headline image photograph National Storytelling Week at the Big Green Bookshop from Lynne Featherstone's Flickr feed, Cropped and re-sized. CC BY-NC 2.0