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Japanese used bookstore chain really wants to buy your books

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Book Off, a secondhand bookstore chain in Japan, is in dire need of inventory. To try and remedy the situation they have produced a television commercial "begging customers to sell them books" The commercial features employees standing solemnly in two lines along near-empty bookshelves pleading with the viewers to sell them books.  Watch:   [youtube]https://youtu.be/9kUTT4TxWV8[/youtube] What kind of books are they asking after: “Books you’ve read already” “Books that won’t fit on the book shelf.” “Books left behind by the girlfriend you forgot about!” “Books you thought would make you look cool!” “Books someone could not stop talking about but...

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DIY: Build your own book arch

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Scott Hill, the proprietor of Sandman Books in South Florida,  has shared his secrets on how to make your very own book arch. It begins with a familiar bookseller quandary - what to do with all those books one acquires "that are simply at the end of their lives". Hill decided to do something fun and went to work building a book arch. He built his first one in 2013 and when his shop moved in 2019 he was back at it. The arch has become a bit of tourist destination and next month the first wedding vows will be...

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Here comes Bookshop.org!

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Have we reached the tipping point? Could this finally be the viable independent alternative to Amazon? Have we accepted the reality that cheap and fast does not equal healthy and does little to foster community sustainability? A tall order for sure but the timing might be a bit better than past efforts to compete against the Godzilla of bookselling. Enter Bookshop.org: Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community. We believe that bookstores are essential to a healthy culture of readers and writers. They’re where authors can connect...

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Significant LBGT collection goes to the University of London

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Jonathan Cutbill, the co-founder of Gay’s The Word bookshop in London's Bloomsbury neighborhood who died last year, has left his collection of 30,000 LBGT+ items to the University of London.  The collection, which has items dating back to 1760, will arrive having already been completely cataloged and cross referenced by Cutbill. Cutbill has been at the forefront of the LGBT struggle for justice for years. In 1984 his shop was raided by customs officers and he was accused of conspiracy to import obscene material. The charges where later dropped. photo by Stu Maddux Maria Castrillo, head of special collections and...

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Another beautiful book space appears in China, this one in a paddy field

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Beijing based Trace Architecture Office has devised this beautiful bookshop to sit between the walls of an old abandoned building in rural China. The shop sits on a paddy field on the outskirts of Xiadi Village in Fuijian province and will be operated by Librairie Avant-Garde, an independent book shop with locations across China. You might remember the name Librairie Avant-Garde, for many believe their shop beneath Wutaichan Stadium in Nanjing is the most beautiful bookshop in China.  Of course, this shop is called Paddy Field Bookstore! More on the architectural particulars of this gorgeous space at de zeen Previously...

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