Recently, we caught up with our wonderful stockist, Green Ink, an independent bookshop in Hay-on-Wye, Wales - the famous town known as the UK's "Town of Books" and home to the internationally renowned Hay Festival. Surrounded by some of Britain's best-loved bookshops, Green Ink has carved out its own place with thoughtfully curated second-hand books, a warm welcome, and shelves packed with literary treasures for every kind of reader.
Q :What makes your shop special?
A: We think most bookshops are special! We are a fairly small shop so we have to be really thoughtful about what we stock and why. We describe ourselves as 'general-ish' because we have books from a wide range of areas (literature, art, philosophy, history, theology, kids books to name just a few) but we realised early on we couldn't try to cover everything. I think this gives the shop a really nice feel, it's almost like someone's personal collection.
Q: If someone walked through your door for the first time, what would they notice?
A: Often it is our beautiful shelves! They were made for us by a local carpenter to his own unique design and they get a lot of love. Of course it's the books themselves that are the star of the show though, and we like to think they feel quite accessible - we try to keep the shop feeling open and spacious, even when we've got more books that we can get on the shelves!
Q :What's something about your bookshop that people might not know?
A : We're called Green Ink because Green is part of our family name. And yes, we work nearly exclusively with green pens! Since opening we've learned that it's also the colour used by the head of MI6, as well as people who write in to complain to newspapers!
Q: Is there a particular corner, shelf, display, or feature of the shop that you're especially proud of?
A: For me (Ellen) it's our kids section. It isn't the fanciest corner of the shop but it was really important to me that we had a good and affordable offering for children. An early love of books and reading is such a special thing and I absolutely love seeing kids excited to come in. We've got a few toys and somewhere to perch to read a story too, we wanted to help people feel at home around books, to know that they are for everybody.
Q: What's the best thing about being an independent bookshop?
A: We get to shape the shop and our stock however we like! Especially being secondhand, we aren't tied into the latest bestsellers or seasonal titles so it's much more like a treasure hunt - both for us when we're looking for new stock, and for our customers. Browsing secondhand books is where the magic happens!
Q: Tell us about a memorable customer interaction.
A : Recently we had a customer who asked us to try and find a book that their mother had been looking for for years. They weren't hopeful, there was no sign of it in any of the usual places online but it had a real personal significance so we said we'd look into it. After a bit of super sleuthing we managed to track down a copy in a small shop in Canada and get it sent for our customer. They were so excited to share it with their mother and it meant a great deal to her to have it. That's my favourite kind of book search and serves as a reminder that books really are so much more than printed paper.
Q: What's a book you find yourself recommending again and again?
A: For me it's often Vikram Seth's An Equal Music, or the poetry of Mary Oliver - there is not a moment in life I can imagine that wouldn't be enriched by her words! For Josh it's The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. He's read it well over a dozen times so it's close to his heart!
Q: If readers could do one thing to support their local bookshop, what would it be?
A: Don't take it for granted! As with all bricks and mortar shops, they really can't exist without people using them. I think it's easy to feel like shops will always be there to fall back on, but it is usually much more fragile than that. Each sale means something to a real human! There's a brilliant campaign called 'just a card' which encourages people to support local independent shops. The idea being that if you buy even 'just a card' it really helps keep small businesses going. So, go in, say hi and see what they have to offer, it might be more than you expect.
Q: What's the strangest thing that's happened in your shop?
A : We're currently having our shop fitted out to be used in filming for a Christmas movie. So it's mid June and festive decorations are going in! It's so far very chaotic, lots of fun but pretty surreal!
This edition of our Meet the Booksellers series plus the accompanying graphics were researched and written by Tess Short during her work experience placement with Bookishly.
Tess is a student at Bishop Stopford School, is currently studying A-levels and has a passion for creativity.
