Navigating Independent Bookshops as Public Spaces and Social Infrastructure

SO449 Independent Project | Candidate number: 39728 | Word count: 9998

NAVIGATING INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS as Public Spaces and Social Infrastructure

Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology, The London School of Economics and Political Science, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MSc City Design and Social Science. London, August 2022

ABSTRACT

Since the rise of the modern independent bookshop in the 1800s, their existence has been continually threatened. Surprisingly, urban sociological work on independent bookselling and their contributions have been relatively sparse. This research uses the concepts of public space and social infrastructure as a lens to better understand the contributions of independent bookshops. To do so, a mixed-methods strategy is utilised. Observations and Interviews were used to examine how public space is spatialised, experienced and generated by different people (Jones, 2021). The research argues independent bookshops are crucial components of the urban fabric from a cultural and social-spatial standpoint because they provide these crucial for people to interact (Latham and Layton, 2019).

It does so by welcoming all people unconditionally and by consciously designing a site of publicness. As the bookshop caters for moments of brief encounters, it also creates rare windows of opportunity for deeper conversations. Their value is supported through a dense network of institutions and stakeholders. This puts the bookshop in a unique position where there is flexibility to shifting ideas about identity, work, home, and support. Thus, social infrastructure can consist of a wide range of spaces - many of which might not normally be thought of as public spaces, although many conceptions of publicness can be identified and implemented (Latham and Layton, 2019). Ultimately, while bookshops serve as sites that facilitate encounters, their use and function go beyond that. Their efforts are not always apparent, nor easily quantifiable. Thus, their challenges are highlighted in this research with a call to even the playing field for independent bookshops.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘So often, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me and reminded me that there are good things in this world’ – Vincent van Gogh

I would like to thank my supervisor, David Madden, whose insight and knowledge helped me in steering through this research. I would also like to thank Fran Tonkiss and Suzi Hall for going the extra mile in helping shape my preliminary ideas for the research project. Thank you as well to the wider teaching team during my time at the LSE for helping me develop a greater critical understanding of our cities.

I am also incredibly blessed to be surrounded by a fabulous group of coursemates in the MSc City Design and Social Science programme. I am grateful to many who have rendered tremendous support and guidance during my time here at the London School of Economics and Political Science, without whom I would not have made it through the year in one piece. Special thanks to Rachel Chiam, Caroline Aung, Charlie Spreckley, Aleksandra Igumnova, Hanzhi Luo, Camila Fisher, Margeaux Adams and Yuval Avigdor.

‘A good bookshop is not just about selling books from shelves, but reaching out into the world and making a difference’ – David Almond

I am thankful to bookshops for giving me time and for allowing me to peek into your lives. I am grateful to the participants in my interviews who have taught me a lot about the bookselling industry, its networks and the nittygritty of everyday life in the bookshop. I am indebted to the passionate, friendly and most kind-hearted bookshop managers and booksellers at Libreria, Ink@84, Bookmarks and Custom House Bookshop. I hope my efforts here have honoured their invaluable time and contributions. Keep up the good work, and thank you for continually inspiring me to do better.

‘I love walking into a bookstore. It’s like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.’ – Tahereh Mafi

I am grateful to my parents for bringing my sister and me on weekly visits to bookshops and our local libraries. But more importantly, I am forever appreciative of their relentless love, support and encouragement in everything I do in life. Thank you for always trusting me. Above all, I would like to express a special thanks to my partner Rachel Chiam for always pushing me to do better. Thank you for your continual encouragement and support.

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CONTENTS

Abstract

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

Introduction

Theoretical Conceptualisations Methodology

Bookshops as Public Space Bookshops as Social Infrastructure What now? What next? Conclusions Bibliography Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C

3 5 8 12 14 20 22 38 54 59 61 72 73 74

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures 1 - 3 Academic books on bookshops and bookselling since 2000s.

Figures 4 - 8 Memoirs published by various booksellers, bookshop owners and visitors to bookshops.

Figure 9 Habermasian Public Sphere Theory

Figure 10 Oldenburg’s ‘Third Place’

Figure 11 Different types of Social Infrastructure across scales of formality and hardness

Figure 12 A local Social Infrastructure ecosystem. Despite the recognition of various forms of social infrastructure across hardness, independent bookshops and their contributions are not recognised here.

Figure 13 Definition of an independent retailer

Figure 14 Location of independent bookhops interviewed across London. The four London boroughs are the London Boroughs of Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham.

Figures 15 - 16 Pre-loved or second-hand books were often placed outside the shop to lure potential visitors in. This simple act made books cheaper, and thus more accessible.

Figure 17 Libreria employes a radically different way to sort its books. The caterogies of ‘love’ and ‘time and space’ can be seen here.

Figure 18 The use of mirrors creates an illusion that the bookshop is larger than it is. This creates a sense of openess in a confined interior.

Figure 19 Cubby-holes were designed into the shelves of Libreria, providing a sense of privacy in the public bookshop.

Figure 20 Similarly, in Ink@84, the availability of chairs and tables in the back-garden allows for rest and book-browsing.

Figure 21 Physical lay-out of Custom House Bookshop. The various zones are evident here. Children’s books can only be found on the right side whereas books for teenagers and adults can be found on the left.

Figure 22 Physical lay-out of Liberia. A Children’s zone is built into the back of the bookshop giving a sense of privacy. This is facilitated by the provision of toys and games.

Figure 23 Physical lay-out of Ink@84. A Children’s zone is also built into the back of the bookshop giving a sense of privacy and an opportunity of freedom for parents and their children.

Figure 24 Physical lay-out of Bookmarks. Chairs and tables are provided for rest and browsing throughout the bookshop.

Figures 25 - 26 Flexibility is often built into the bookshops. In less than half an hour the bookshop is turned into an event space due to the clever use of foldable and wheelable furniture.

Figure 27 In Bookmarks, the decision to host events online was influence by COVID-19. The decision to stay online in the present day ensures that people can continue to be safe while mantaining wider reach. This was supplemented by the decision to post events on Youtube for people to catchup post event.

Figure 28 - 29 In Libreria (left) and Custom House Bookshop (right), the flexibility of the bookshop’s physical space was facilitated through the use of foldable pieces of furniture and furniture on wheels.

Figure 30 The bookshop’s temporality influenced various activities for both booksellers and visitors.

Figure 31 A pre-event segment at Ink@84 allowed for audience members and invited speakers to interact. This interaction is seen on the left of the photo.

Figure 32 The bookshop creates an opportunity for social interaction throughout the day, but especially during downtimes, this becomes more apparent.

Figure 33 A person browsing books at Bookmarks

Figure 34 Bookmarks is also a site of activism. In support of RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) strikes, they closed on 21st June 2022 as an act of solidarity.

Figure 35 The bookshop’s role as a public sphere creates a sense of openess that allowed for people from allows backgrounds to co-exist.

Figure 36 Spatial context of Bookmarks. Its location in Bloomsbury meant that it was surrounded by a traditional myriad of knowledge institutions, publishers and numerous other bookshops.

Figure 37 Spatial context of Ink@84. Its location on the high street and surrounding primary schools meant that it has a distinct local character.

Figure 38 Spatial context of Custom House Bookshop. The bookshop was founded due to a gap in the neighbourhood - the library was opened only 3 days a week, and the nearest bookshop was at least 20 minutes away by public transport (Stratford / Upton Park).

Figure 39 Spatial context of Libreria. Its location alongside Brick Lane meant that it attracted a very distinct crowd of tourists and visitors, especially on weekends.

Figure 40 - 41 An event supporting Bookmarks was organised after suffering an attack of hate-crime. It attracted so many people that the event had to move from the bookshop to the nearby church.

Figure 42 Staff at Custom House Bookshop made sure to stock books with characters from BAME and mixed backgrounds which better reflected the local identity. Here, biographies of Nelson Mandela and Rio Ferdinand can be seen displayed.

Figure 43 During one of my days of observations at Libreria. I overheard a conversation between a bookseller and a visitor who was looking for a book on London’s architecture. I did not dare to interrupt the conversation then, but offered a suggestion. Three days later, on another visit, the book I suggested was now displayed on the shelf.

Figures 44 - 46 Staff at Custom House Bookshop were often resourcesful and creative, scouring the internet for resources to create their own hand-made props for their weekly workshops. Here a hand-made telescope has been made during the week where the workshop’s theme was pirates.

Figures 47 - 49 Tables were set up on Saturday mornings. Children would engage in colouring exercises together with other families.

Figure 50 A corner in Custom House Bookshop is set up just for notices, brochures and leflets. Its content was slightly different. Here, the bookshop stocked notices mostly from the local Council.

39 40 40 41 43 45 45 47 47 48

Figure 51 A corner in Bookmarks is also set up just for notices, brochures and leaflets. Its prominent position near the entrance menat that everyone would see it as they entered the bookshop.

Figure 52 - 55 A selection of brochures on display at Custom House Bookshop.

Figure 56 A selection of bookshop guides from the Booksellers Association (BA) alongside Regeneration Plans and Strategy documents from the Local Council.

Figure 57 A crowdfunding page was started for New Beacon Books when they threatened to close down their physical space. In eight days, enough money was raised for New Beacon Books to survive and move to a cheaper space.

Figures 58 - 59 Every year, Bookmarks pack up its shop (left) and head to the University of East London for the annual Marxism Festival (right).

Figures 60 - 61 Bookmarks also takes part in other conferences such as Conferences for the Black Child (left) and TransPride London (right).

Figure 62 To combat the rise of chain bookshops and online retailers, Ink@84 joined an alliance with other independent bookshops to offer an alternative.

Figure 63 An application for funding of £20,000 put forth by the Custom House Bookshop has been delegated to the local community.

Figures 64 - 65 When COVID-19 descended upon the world and lockdowns were placed on cities, independent bookshops like Libreria and Bookmarks had to rely on crowdfunding to stay alive. This demonstrated the precarious state of bookshops and the pressing need to support them.

Figure 66 Bookmarks

Figure 67 The Independent Bookshop’s instruments of ‘infrastructuring’ (Korn, et al., 2019).

INTRODUCTION

Since the rise of the modern independent bookshop in the 1800s, their existence has been continually threatened. Surprisingly, urban sociological work on independent bookselling and their contributions have been relatively sparse. Since the turn of the millennium, there have only been three major academic studies on books and bookselling (Figures 1 to 3):

1. ‘Reluctant Capitalists’ (Miller 2006)

2. ‘The Book is Dead - long live the book’ (Young 2007)

3. ‘The Rise of the Modernist Bookshop’ (Osborne, 2015).

Figures 1 - 3 (Left - right)

Academic books on bookshops and bookselling since 2000s. Image sources: Miller, 2006; Osborne, 2015; Young, 2007

Additionally, multiple memoirs from various booksellers and bookshop owners have been produced (e.g., Hanff, 2002; Laties, 2011; Bythell, 2017; 2019; Wassef, 2021) (Figures 4 to 8). These, however, concentrate on the business operations of bookshops and can be perceived to lack a sharp and critical perspective.

The necessity for additional in-depth empirical and sociological urban research on the political, social, cultural, and economic contributions of independent bookshops is thus essential. Drawing on Miller (2011) and Li (2010), who both stress the importance of examining the local context of bookselling, the paper utilises the concepts of public space and social infrastructure to analyse the valuable contributions of independent bookshops to urban life. In a way, this research is also a response to the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) (2020) call for a ‘broader understanding of social infrastructure, to inform funding, needs assessments and evaluations…which is used to support decision making about planning and land use’ (p.15).

Figures 4 - 8 (Left - right)

Memoirs published by various booksellers, bookshop owners and visitors to bookshops.

Image sources: Hanff, 2002; Laties, 2011; Bythell, 2017, 2019; Wassef, 2021

Thus, the research project’s main research questions are:

1. How do independent bookshops serve as a form of interior public space?

2. How do independent bookshops relate externally to their communities? In doing so, how do the bookshops exist as a form of social infrastructure?

3. How should urban practitioners respond to the value of independent bookshops in order to elevate their status and to live up to their role as social infrastructure?

In the next section, I introduce the theoretical underpinnings of the research such as public space and social infrastructure. Subsequently, the methodology for the research is introduced. The remaining sections lay out and analyse results from the research. In each sub-section, the use of themes helps to build bridges across a multitude of bookshops. This paper ends with a discussion on issues of practice, attempting to understand how policy and urban practitioners can better respond to the value of independent bookshops. Above all, I make the case that in the contemporary world, independent bookshops act as a form of public space and social infrastructure, playing a crucial supportive role in our cities.

THEORETICAL CONCEPTUALISATIONS

Public Spaces and the Public Sphere

Few ideas have the enduring appeal that public space does for those who are interested in city life. Many scholars such as Jacobs (1961), Sennett (1970), and Harvey (1989) have stressed the value of public space. Throughout the 1990s, substantial critical work was motivated by the erosion of public space (Sorkin, 1992; Mitchell, 1995; Zukin, 1995). Studies on sociality (Watson, 2006), securitisation (Low, 2003; Graham, 2010), encounters (Amin, 2002; Valentine, 2008), and urban design (Carmona, 2021) have all benefited from the continued growth of research since the turn of the millennium. Due to the width and depth of public space knowledge that is too big to explore here, I focus my discussions on a few key concepts. Firstly, the conceptualisation of the public sphere by Habermas (1989) is especially helpful. Habermas contends that numerous little elements of the urban structure, such as the coffee shop, were essential to the operation of the public sphere (Figure 9). More than just a site of consumption, the coffee shop, contributed to the public sphere by serving as a key node in encouraging conversation.

Figure 10

Oldenburg’s ‘Third Place’ Image source: Author, 2022

Third Place

Secondly, studies of public spaces and the public sphere have also given rise to the concept of the ‘third place’ (Oldenburg and Brissett, 1982). They stated that the ‘third place’ serves as an inclusive and open social leveller between ‘home’ (first place) and ‘work’ (second place). It proffers the ‘third place’ as physical opportunities to socialise and meet new people (Figure 10). Lofland (1998) adds to this, arguing that public spaces give significance to life by allowing new relationships to be formed. The ‘third place’, however, constructed upon a male-centric dualistic view of home and work and forgoes the notion that social existence is frequently concealed by conflict. Similarly, Sennett (2017) asserts that people can only be sociable when they have some protection from each other. Moreover, the categorisation of the ‘third place’ is not mutually exclusive. A person’s ‘third place’ may be another person’s workplace and vice versa. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how traditional notions of public places are becoming increasingly entangled and hybridised. Nonetheless, Oldenburg’s (1999) work is still relevant here because his work did not respect the traditional boundaries of whether something was owned by the public, community or had commercial underpinnings.

First Place Home Second Place Workplace

Third Place

Socialisation Relaxed atmosphere for new people to meet and frequent

Neutral Leveler Unimportance of individual’s status and demographic

Conversation Main activity between socially and politically diverse individuals

Accessibility Accomodating, lack of formality and low profile

The Increasing Appreciation of Social Infrastructure

Progressively, Klinenberg’s (2018) seminal work on social infrastructure plays an increasingly critical role in how scholars and practitioners view various spaces within the city. Klinenberg defines social infrastructure as ‘the physical places and organizations that shape the way people interact’ (p. 5). He uses this concept expansively to extend beyond Oldenburg’s ‘third place’. His examples include libraries, schools, playgrounds, parks, athletic fields, swimming pools, sidewalks, courtyards, community gardens, and other green spaces. According to Klinenberg, social infrastructure can build a thriving, friendly community where people help one another. Latham and Layton (2021) builds on Klinenberg’s (2018) work, arguing that more than just serving a practical purpose, they are places where cities can be perceived as inclusive and friendly. Moreover, the GLA’s recently published report – ‘Connective Social Infrastructure: How London’s Social Spaces and Networks help us live well together’ (2020) recognises that social infrastructure is a fluid concept where it is formed by local organisations, networks, and services across scales of formality and hardness that link and strengthen communities (Figure 11).

Figure 11

Different types of Social Infrastructure across scales of formality and hardness Image source: GLA: 2020

Public Spaces and Social Infrastructure

Thus, social infrastructure proffers us an opportunity to comprehend and examine various ways how various forms of city life merge, fluctuate, and be appropriated and adapted for their needs (Lee, et al., 2019). Social infrastructure is a relatively multidimensional notion. It recognises opportunities to socialise with others (Lofland, 1973), the ability to communicate with both familiar and unfamiliar people (Habermas, 1989), the ability to discuss issues that affect a community (Marres, 2012), and the ability to experience collective provision (Amin, 2008). These are all significant aspects of city life that can influence how cities function as places of collective inhabitation (Layton, 2022).

Discussions on public space is frequently entwined with discussing radical democratic ideology or how public space may support political life (Koch and Latham, 2012). This has an impact on how public spaces are perceived as important, what types of activities are expected to occur there, and what types of areas are recognised and envisioned as public (Layton, 2022). The conceptual advantage of social infrastructure is that it highlights the role of facilitation. Analysis is focused on the physical locations, institutions, networks, community groups, and organisations that support public life (Talen, 2019). Naturally this raises certain questions. How can we make these activities more accessible? How is the area controlled? What are people’s opinions? Should these be supported?

Thus, when comparing works of public space and social infrastructure, there is sense of narrowness present in the former (Koch and Latham, 2012). This is not to say that public spaces are irrelevant nor that social infrastructure is superior. Instead, I put forth that these two theoretical conceptualisations are equally important. While they intersect, they are also distinct and offers different ways of how we experience urban life.

Nonetheless, in both, the materiality of place is critical (Slater, 2021). The aim is to recognise the public dimensions of facilities, highlight the role of specific materialities for affording particular kinds of activities (Hitchings and Latham, 2016), and consider how our regulations and institutions shape the kinds of public activity that can take place in cities (Hall, et al. 2017).

Importantly, the notion of social infrastructure also suggests that public spaces should not be treated in isolation, but that the public life of cities is supported by a diverse network of spaces and facilities. Recently, the GLA (2020) introduced the term ‘social infrastructure ecosystem’. This

recognises the links between formal and informal social infrastructure, as well as the relevance of community bonds in supporting social integration (Figure 12). Thus, this is a way of living in a world that values friendship, collaboration, community, trust, and solidarity (Sennett, 2012). It is also a network that requires maintenance, and should be provided abundantly (Amin and Thrift, 2002). An approach to infrastructure allows an understanding of politics of provision to unfold in which we consider how these systems might improve the daily lives of urban dwellers (Latham and Layton, 2020). In other words, it is imperative to navigate the provisional dilemmas that are currently at stake as a result of austerity policies (Jackson, 2019). Above all, this new perspective has a cumulative effect, prompting us to reconsider design and policy tenets that govern how social infrastructure in cities is shaped physically, socially, culturally, and politically.

Figure 12

A local Social Infrastructure ecosystem. Despite the recognition of various forms of social infrastructure across hardness, independent bookshops and their contributions are not recognised here.

Image source: GLA: 2020

Theoretical

The Role of the Independent Bookshop

This study intends to contribute to the discourse on the urban public through knowledge of interiors, assisting its function as a piece. The independent bookshop provides a ‘window’ into their communities, serving as places where local issues, ideologies, and customs of modern multi-cultural urban life are expressed. Consequently, the independent bookshop is no longer just a transitional space between home and work but rather an essential exemplar of a site of varying publicness. They are not merely ‘lieux du livre’ (book places), but also ‘lieux du vivre’ (living spaces) (EBLIDA, 2020: 22). Ultimately, independent bookshops can act as ‘networks of locations, facilities, institutions, and people that offer affordances for social engagement’ (Latham & Layton, 2019: 3) that enhances urban social life (Klinenberg, 2018).

From this moment, a bookshop will refer to an independent bookshop, unless mentioned otherwise. The heterogeneity of bookshops mean they are hard to definte. For this research, an independent bookshop is an enterprise owned by individuals or entity that is not a part of a chain (Figure 13). Miller (2006) refers to bookshops as ‘reluctant capitalists’ where characteristics of business also come with a certain amount of latitude to act unconventionally while following standards that might not be perceived as economically sound. Anna, a bookseller I interviewed, highlighted: ‘My favourite thing about indepdenent bookshops is how personally curated they are. I think if you come into an indie and you ask a bookseller, what are you reading? And why are these books on the table? They can genuinely tell you.’

Thus, another outstanding characteristic of both independent bookshops is booksellers having the autonomy to shape the bookshop’s identity (Li, 2010).

Figure 13

Definition of an independent retailer

Image source: Author, 2022

Owned by an individual, group of individuals or a single entity

Autonomy to shape the bookshop’s identiy

METHODOLOGY

A mixed-methods strategy is used to accomplish the goals of this study endeavour. Presently, there is a growing interest in ethnographic examinations of how public space is spatialised, experienced and generated by people (Jones, 2021). Thus, spatial and social observations were carried out in the different bookshops at various times on both weekdays and weekends (Appendix A). The bookshops chosen are different and distinct in their objectives and will provide substantial insight into bookselling industry in London (Figure 14).

To supplement the observations, a series of semi-structured interviews with bookshop managers and booksellers across the four independent bookshops were also carried out (Appendix B and C). It also provides a different perspective, from the provider of the public space and social infrastructure. This provides the researcher an opportunity to better understand and synthesis how bookshops can be studied as a sociospatial object of analysis in and of itself while offering an infrastructural approach to the topic of public space (Latham and Layton, 2019).

Due to the diversity, quantity and quality of bookshops, secondary data was also relied upon when necessary to provide a more holistic narrative of bookshops’ contributions to our urban life. This mix of research methods provides the researcher with the opportunity to chart the bookshops’ complex relationship with their locality. I ask questions about who constitutes the public, and how forms of social difference are recognised and negotiated in this public space through the portrayal of the routine, small-scale interactions and interventions that occur in ordinary routines in the bookshop. This produces a contextual, reflective, and regular perspective on how the bookshop can be traced to events, ideas and connections, each unique yet equally essential to urban life (Goldfarb, 2006). Ultimately, I posit that the indepdenent bookshop can be understood as a form of social infrastructure in its contributions to its diverse range of phsycial, socio-cultural and political communities.

Figure 14

Location of independent bookhops interviewed across London. The four London boroughs are the London Boroughs of Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham.

Image sources: Author, 2022

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BOOKSHOPS AS PUBLIC SPACE

Theoretical Context

In the context of a dwindling public sphere, Habermas (1989) placed great focus on the coffee shop as a site of publicness. Drawing on historical research, he argued that the ‘bourgeois reading public’ (p. 85), grew to know and to represent itself and its cultural-political concerns. More importantly, he acknowledges how interior spaces are increasingly part of the urban morphology. Yet, this is not new. Restaurants, churches and forums were recognised even in earlier works by Nolli (1748) and Engels (1845) as important interiors where social contact took place and defined urban public life. Thus, beyond the public library (which has been overresearched), I want to critically explore a different side of literary space that is commercial, to extend the notion of the social and interior public spaces.

The publicness of cities is thus a multidimensional notion. This has an impact on how public spaces are created, perceived, valued, and lived (Layton, 2022). The materiality of books is naturally crucial in the independent bookshop lie at the centre of one’s experiences in the bookshop. Borrowing the language used by Luyt and Sagun (2016), it is evident that are were three forms of materiality in the bookshop which I will explore in the subsequent sub-sections.

Materiality of the physical setting of the bookshop

As public spaces are traditionally perceived to perform a democratic role, a performative value is layered upon the visibility and physical manifestation of the public space (Butler, 2015). Thus, physical spaces have to be visible places where society can engage in political activity and social representation (Mitchell, 1995). However, these arguments tend to emphasise the distinction between the interior and exterior (Sennett, 2017a). It creates a divide between places of varying exposures. Consequently, an individual’s feelings of tranquilly and reflection in the interior, such as the bookshop, are side-lined in our preoccupation with the exterior (Rădulescu, 2017). Thus, we need to acknowledge the public interior as a newly emergent realm of publicness and its role in shaping conceptions of public space across a range of socio-cultural contexts (Bannerjee, 2001). A visit to a bookshop is free and unconditional, enacting a personal reaction of enthusiasm and arousal even if the visit

Figures 15 - 16

Pre-loved or second-hand books were often placed outside the shop to lure potential visitors in. This simple act also made books cheaper, and thus more accessible.

Image sources: Author, 2022

does not result in a purchase (Addis, 2016). Thus, underlying tenets of permeability and porosity push for more free-flowing modes of thought that go beyond the rigid dichotomies of internal and external or the public and private. This is crucial in understanding how bookshops shape the reading landscape.

Interior Design

Space programming in public interiors creates opportunities for new imaginative creations in the public realm and the establishment of deliberate interior publics (Thorsen, 2016). Bookshops often employ floor-to-ceiling windows allowing the public to peer inside (Figure 15). Furthermore, bookshops’ doors are often open, serving as a legible entry point and creating a much more inviting space for the everyday public. Discounted ‘pre-loved’ books were often placed on a table outside the shop. Often, this would often catch the eye of passers-by. One would take a pause as they pass by, manifest a face of intrigue and walk into the bookshop shortly after (Figures 15 and 16).

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In Libreria, an unconventional shelving process for books was employed (Figure 17). A bookseller shares: ‘Here, we organise everything by theme. And within these themes, you are going to get a mixture between fiction and non-fiction books. The idea is that you are going to get books next to each other that you would not normally see next to each other in a bookshop.’

This, they hope, creates a more serendipitous browsing experience, especially since the use of phones is also discouraged. They add: ‘most people do not understand it when they first come in, and they get confused and they’re a little bit overwhelmed. However, they start to discover things, and that is what is so exciting about it’.

In all bookshops, music would often fill the space. This was imperative as it helps buffer vehicle noise, especially since bookshops were often located on busy streets. Most bookshops are splashed with vibrant colours that contrasted from the typical colour schemes of chain booksellers (Li, 2010). Going beyond a playful use of colours, in Libreria, the space of the bookshop is perceptibly larger due to the clever use of mirrors along one whole wall of the bookshop (Figure 18). More often than not, customers would bump into ‘themselves’, being perplexed upon seeing their own reflection, only to realise that the bookshop was smaller than expected.

Figure 17 (left)

Libreria employes a radically different way to sort its books. The caterogies of ‘love’ and ‘time and space’ can be seen here.

Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 18 (right)

The use of mirrors creates an illusion that the bookshop is larger than it is. This creates a sense of openess in a confined interior.

Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 19 (left)

Cubby-holes were designed into the shelves of Libreria, providing a sense of privacy in the public bookshop.

Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 20 (right)

Similarly, in Ink@84, the availability of chairs and tables in the backgarden allows for rest and book-browsing. This was taken on a Wednesday afternoon.

Image source: Author, 2022

Furthermore, bookshops are also frequently furnished with chairs and tables, inviting visitors to browse, but also to rest. In Liberia, cubby-holes were designed into the space (Figure 19). This could fit up to two people. It forges a cosy space which generates a little privacy in the public bookshop. While seemingly minor and passive, a table and chair serve something much more. There are no established standards of behaviour (Goffman, 1967), but chairs and tables were an evident and visible instrument of attraction and visitors would spend anywhere between five minutes to over an hour sitting on a chair. A temporal element does however exist. On the weekdays, empty seating spaces can be easily found, while seating spaces are often full on the weekends (Figure 20).

Hall (2012), in her study of caffs in South London, writes that the size, placement and items on the table help produce a variety of outcomes for customers. Similarly, in the bookshop, if even for a brief moment, the acquirement of a seat renders that area of the bookshop a personal space. Visitors to the bookshop would put down their bags, take out their phones, take a sip of water, and sometimes, read. These seemingly minor gestures help in aiding various individuals to assert individual territories within the bookshop’s limited public interior.

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Interior Layout

The crafting of various zones in the bookshop to denote different target audiences is also evident. Specifically, children’s zones were typically located near the back of a store and included more colourful and shorter furniture (Figures 21 to 24). This is not dissimilar to shopping centre designers utilising various techniques to entice and engage children (Li, 2010). The purposeful curation of children zones in bookshops help create a realm of publicness in the bookshop. At the end of the school day, children would dash into the bookshop, masterfully navigating the array of bookshelves to the back.

Figure 21 Physical lay-out of Custom House Bookshop (Images are not drawn to scale). The various zones are evident here. Children’s books can only be found on the right side whereas books for teenagers and adults could be found on the left. Image sources: Author, 2022

Figure 22

Physical lay-out of Liberia (Images are not drawn to scale). A Children’s zone is built into the back of the bookshop giving a sense of privacy. This is facilitated by the provision of toys and games.

Image sources: Author, 2022

Those at independent bookshops strive to feel at home (Addis, 2016) and this was demonstrated on one particular day when four children and their dad visited Libreria. Situated a minute away from Brick Lane and dressed in ethnic clothing, the family was presumably coming from the nearby mosque. As I sat in one corner of the bookshop, the children ran to the back rushing to browse books while also playing with the toys laid out in the area (Figure 22). They spent half an hour in the bookshop. The family left after selecting a book each for their dad to purchase. Their visit was short, but it added colour and excitement into the space. As Audunson, et al. (2019) argue, digitisation in the present age has threatened many physical venues which are essential for community and human contact. The importance of the physicality of the independent bookshop for encounters was critically demonstrated. Additionally, Anna, a bookseller I interviewed mentioned that working with kids can be particular rewarding. In particular, they recounted about their interaction with a child:

‘A few weeks ago, a kid came in and just as he was coming in the door, he yelled at the top of his lungs, “books are boring!” But then, we gave him four books and he had the best time of his life.’

Despite Studdert and Walkerdine’s (2016) assertation that ‘community’ is ‘an elastic word serving multiple agendas’ (p. 3), the independent bookshop’s ability to create physical opportunities and an open, social space of diversity should be valued. While the creation of a children’s zone at the back of the bookshop created a safe and cosy nook for the children, I left at the end of the day wondering if the barriers to access would be perceptibly lowered if they were situated in a more transparent and open corner. However, Anna explained that ‘It is always nice for kids to be in enclosed space. They can sit down and spread out a little bit and they do not get in anyone else’s way. They can have a bit of fun in that, with colours, banners and posters.’ Thus, in the context of a large metropolitan environment, the bookshop provides the capacity of an interior public, honed around the readership audience. Garden

Figure 23

Physical lay-out of Ink@84 (Images are not drawn to scale). A Children’s zone is also built into the back of the bookshop giving a sense of privacy and thus a sense of freedom for parents and their children. Image sources: Author, 2022

Figure 24

Physical lay-out of Bookmarks (Images are not drawn to scale). Chairs and tables are provided for rest and browsing throughout the bookshop.

Image sources: Author, 2022

London School of Economics and

Materiality of what is accomplished in the Bookshop

While bookshops are fundamentally business endeavours, their modus operandi evokes a degree of inclusiveness and an inherent sense of publicness. The bookshop is a destination to frequent, either on a whim or as part of a routine. Visitors are welcomed to walk in without committing to a book and walk out without spending any money. For this reason, books were often left unwrapped by retailers to encourage visitors to browse (Luyt and Sagun, 2016). There is no institutional setting or official membership necessary in order to be there and one will almost never be asked to move on. Although one might go through the formalities of browsing and buying a book, the bookshop is a location where one could take their time and enjoy themselves. These browsing experiences provide visitors the complementary opportunity of satisfying their intellectual curiosity. At times, it develops into a conglomeration of material, intellectual, artistic, creative, social, cultural and political interaction beyond its economic underpinnings (Dettmar and Watt, 1996). These linkages offered by the independent bookshop illustrate and embody the growing hybridity of place.

Events and Flexibility

Author talks, topic discussions, book clubs and workshops are regularly held in bookshops. These are often ticketed, although these were more for logistical reasons, rather than for economic gains (they were usually for £5 or less). At one event I attended at Ink@84 (Figure 26), there was a pre-event segment. I managed to get a drink at the in-house bar, chattered with fellow audience members and even informally engaged with invited speakers for the event (Figure 31). This encouraged a convivial atmosphere. When the main event commenced, many audience members were already acquainted with the speakers and the proceedings became much more interactive. It resembled a two-way conversation between colleagues rather than a one-way monologue.

Many contemporary works on bookshops place a strong emphasis on their ability to foster meaningful experiences (Laing and Royle, 2013). At Ink@84, local regulars would often turn up for each event no matter the topic or invited guest. This demonstrates how bookshops are increasingly embedded in the routines of individuals rather than just a place to buy books. While these places may be used for commercial purposes, they nonetheless convey a public image that enhances city life (Bell, 2007). The independent bookshops’ success

Figures 25 - 26 Flexibility is often built into the bookshops. In less than half an hour the bookshop is turned into an event space due to the clever use of foldable furniture and furniture on wheels.

Image sources: Author, 2022

can be attributed to their ability to serve the community. Bookmarks for example, also organises a range of events, including book signings, union activism, support for individuals and organisations (Figure 27). These were specifically suited to the bookshop’s leftwing socialist background. In contrast, Ink@84’s events sometimes take the form of courses. These sometimes last for 8 to 12 weeks.

The bookseller shared that: ‘This is something we put together ourselves so we will approach writers or tutors and I think it just helps create this really like nurturing learning environment for the local community.’

Figure 27

In Bookmarks, the decision to host events online was influence by COVID-19. The decision to stay online in the present day was to ensure that people could continue to be safe while ensuring wider reach. This was supplemented by the decision to post events on Youtube for people to catch-up post event.

Image source: Youtube, 2022

These bookshops can cater for a range of events due to the purposefully designed flexibility in terms of furniture. This meant that the small confined spaces of a bookshop could be put into different uses. Shelves were movable and seating spaces were foldable (Figures 25, 26, 28 and 29). This provides bookshops the flexibility and opportunity to be creative and to do much more with the space. Depending on the circumstance, bookshops had the space to host up to 60 people. One can also rent out the space for private events or parties.

Despite the benefits of bookshops that this paper has argued for, the status quo must continue to be challenged. Can public life grow naturally in a given context independent of what a particular public space was meant for when it was built, or do public spaces need to be established especially for public life to occur? Visiting the bookshop brings out social and spatial actions that activates material, aesthetic, political, personal, and communal affinities and commitments at the nexus of commerce and culture. The bookshop still requires a whole suite of programming to develop its public life. The public sphere according to Habermas (1989) is never static nor one-dimensional. Public spaces inherently lie on a scale. There are seldom spaces which are wholly public or private. Accordingly, the fluidity of traditional public spaces should be acknowledged.

Figure 28 - 29 (left - right) In Libreria (left) and Custom House Bookshop (right), the flexibility of the bookshop’s physical space was facilitated through the use of foldable pieces of furniture and furniture on wheels.

Image sources: Author, 2022

Meeting places

Bookshops can also serve as informal meeting places. Audunson (2005) acknowledges the need for meeting places of various intensities. Using social capital theory, he argues that low-intensity meetings can be venues to increase bridging capital, where one is exposed to otherness and pluralism while high-intensity meetings are venues to increase bonding capital. This echoes Sennett’s (2017b) notion of the need for public spaces where people are exposed to strangers while being open to all.

Habermas’ idea of the coffee house as a public sphere is problematic as it was often inaccessible to women, children and minority races (Fraser, 1990). Thus, the bookshop provides a useful starting point for reflection on the challenges of local integration. Fortunately, the bookshop is frequented by both locals and a variety of visitors, people of various genders, adults and children. Its sociability ranges from families, couples and friends to lone individuals. This representation, however, is not always proportionate. Despite having a strong Bangladeshi community in the neighbourhood, visitors to Libreria, were mostly of other ethnic groups. Thus, a mixed embedness is evident in the bookshop. One can investigate and situate urban sociability based on a congregation of similarities and difference.

Public interiors allow for the concept of publicness to include unnoticed and undervalued urban spaces that are not generally considered public but have a distinctly public character (Latham and Layton, 2019). More acutely, I noticed a unique spatio-temporal structure that catered to the routines of the bookshop and its various visitors emerged within the daily rhythm of work. The bookshops’ happenings throughout the day gave both quiet and busy intervals, and the changes in tempo allowed for variating social patterns (Figure 30). For example, the mornings are usually quieter, allowing the booksellers to sort out deliveries of new books and online book orders. Lunch hour is often evident with people walking briskly into the shop. Usually, these people stay for no more than 20 minutes, leaving soon after for a bite. During these downtimes, the bookshop could be frequented by lone patrons or couples which were local to the area (Figure 32). More interestingly, the end of school was most noticeable. Just after 3 pm, kids would start flowing in, sometimes without parents, demonstrating the high perceived safety of this public space.

Temporality in the Bookshop

Figure 30

The bookshop’s temporality influenced various activities for both booksellers and visitors. Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 31 (left)

A pre-event segment at Ink@84 allowed for audience members and invited speakers to interact. This is seen on the left of the photo. Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 32 (right)

The bookshop creates an opportunity for social interaction throughout the day, but especially during downtimes.

Image source: Author, 2022

Materiality of what is possible in the Bookshop

The independent bookshop is a site of publicness with the ability to oscillate across different degrees of publicness. This is essential for urban life with various types of gathering spaces that are of different publicness for different purposes (Audunson, 2005). Osborne (2015) noted that bookshops combined ‘the private act of reading with the public act of consumption and sociability’ and referred to them as ‘interstitial spaces’ in the city (p. 7). As such, bookshops have the capacity to evolve as social discourse spaces (Luyt and Sagun, 2016). Going to the bookshop promotes a socialisation process as they encounter others in a community of similarly affected readers (Frost, 2017).

Democracy

In the bookshop, the chance encounters of dissimilar people depended in part on having common affinities, but also on having a similar chronological timetable, making it a non-obvious site of democratic practice. At Custom House bookshop, the neighbouring exhibition centre – ExCeL meant that there are no typical visiting peak and off-peak periods. This allows individuals and groups to gather throughout the day, serving as a proxy neighbourhood centre. Nonetheless, Massey (1995) describes places as a specific expression of social interactions that are dominated by power differences. Recognising this, in most bookshops, anyone is allowed to pop in anytime to use the toilet, have a cup of coffee and hang out. In one bookshop, Willow shared: ‘One of the barriers to access and inclusivity is paying, so we do not charge for anything. You can walk in, get a free cup of tea and some biscuits. Because payment in an area where many people are living on benefits, or pensions is another way of becoming exclusive. What we never wanted was some children in here having a good time, and other children on the outside looking into the window’.

In another, Jeremy shared: ‘People would come and spend hours looking at books. It felt like some sort of exhibition. And I like to develop that a bit more’.

It validates how bookshops can serve as a restorative setting for people to enjoy in a cosy and welcoming environment (Laing, 2020). Eventually, the bookshop can serve as a vantage point of contemporary politics. Bookshops can be articulated as social and cultural centres that offer communities considerably more than books (Scottish Book Trust, 2017) (Figures 33 to 34). At Bookmarks, a bookseller shared: ‘Being a left-wing social space, you can come along, you might meet somebody, you know, have a chat, whatever, various times, that does happen. Saturdays, for instance, when there are demonstrations on in London, we often get quite a lot of people and just come after the demo or before, just to say hello’.

Figure 33 (left) A person browsing books at Bookmarks

Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 34 (right) Bookmarks is also a site of activism. In support of RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) strikes, they closed on 21st June 2022 as an act of solidarity. Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 35

The bookshop’s role as a public sphere creates a sense of openess that allowed for people from allows backgrounds to co-exist.

Image source: Author, 2022

Ultimately, the bookshop provides a window to the world. Chain bookshops (such as Waterstones) are often homogenised in their offerings of books, built upon the foundation of a literary culture dominated by the West. This greatly contrasts with independent bookshops where booksellers have the opportunity to personally curate books and bring the outside world in. The bookshop then is able to reflect ideas of democracy, reflection and thought by promoting open discourse (Li, 2010). and cross-cultural interactions (Sennett, 1996). In his insightful analysis of the volatile disputes that broke out in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford in 2001, Amin (2002) purposefully rejects locations of brief occupancy, contending that this offer little in the way of actively involving various people in continual contact. Amin’s alternative of ‘micro-publics’, emphasises neighbourhood gathering spots where people frequently participate in activities that they have in common. This reflects the very nature of the openness that bookshops possess as narrated in this section. Independent bookshops are crucial components of the urban fabric from a cultural and sociospatial standpoint by welcoming all people unconditionally and by consciously designing a welcoming space for people to interact (Latham and Layton, 2019). As the bookshop caters for moments of brief encounters, it also creates rare windows of opportunity for deeper conversations to be had (Figure 32), something I explore in the next section.

BOOKSHOPS AS SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Theoretical Context

As aforementioned, beyond the third place, the concept of social infrastructure has been brought into the foreground (Klinenberg, 2018; Layton and Latham, 2019; 2020; 2021; GLA, 2020). Especially in an era of austerity, public libraries have become under-resourced and underfunded. For example, some public libraries only open three days a week. It is in this context that I argue that independent bookshops should be elevated to serve as social infrastructure too.

In this section, I look at how the independent bookshop functions as a public arena where interactions between people from various social, economic, and cultural backgrounds may occur. More importantly, I confront the narrow defintion of public space to look beyond simple encounters and highlight the practices of elevating such interactions. I posit that the bookshop’s function as social infrastructure does not develop naturally, but requires active participation from a range of stakeholders, including booksellers, visitors, local government and other organisations. In some ways, the value of the independent bookshop is also in the way that interactions are planned and choreographed (Wilson, 2017).

Accordingly, I investigate the bookshop’s formal and informal practices of infrastructuring (Korn, et al., 2019). The subsequent sub-sections demonstrate how bookshops are often a hive of social activity, creating the possibility for long-lasting connections. It may be argued that stimulating interaction has evolved into the bookshop’s primary function as a social infrastructure. This goes beyond Allport’s (1954) ‘contact hypothesis’ or Pratt’s (1991) ‘contact zone’ theories. Both suggest that contact between different groups – labelled ‘rubbing along’ by Watson (2006) – has the potential to reduce prejudice and promote social cohesion. However, it must be acknowledged that encounters are only one component of urban social life. The sociality that results adds an additional layer in urban society, establishing bonds that individuals can rely on in difficult situations or can use to establish and form new entities (Layton, 2022).

Figure 36 Spatial context of Bookmarks. Its location in Bloomsbury meant that it was surrounded by knowledge institutions, publishers and numerous other bookshops.

Image source: Author, 2022

Spatial Context and Specialisms

Geographers such as Relph (1976), Tuan (1979), and Seamon (1993) have argued about the significance of ‘place’ and the relationship between the human condition and its spatiality. Therefore, an understanding of various spatial elements is useful in understanding how the bookshop partakes in the reproduction and dissemination of culture (Harrisson and Dourish, 1996). Bookshops are places where individuals physically interact with their community and have face-to-face interactions (Li, 2010). However, they exist not as singular spaces but are always reliant on wider spatial relationships. Their regular location on the high street does have certain connotations. High streets are frequently thought to contain small, individually owned businesses with strong ties to the neighbourhood. These streets are centres of consumption but are also a locus of identification. For Zukin (1995: 190), high streets are ultimately indicators of ‘urban public cultures’. Moreover, Li (2010) argues that there are many benefits to having a storefront on the street as opposed to in a shopping mall. The independent bookshop has better flexibility and consequently, ability to better cater for its locality.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks Other bookshops

Publishers Knowledge Institutions

Primary school

British Museum

University of London

SOAS Birkbeck

Local attractions

Primary schools

Figure 37

Spatial context of Ink@84. Its location on the high street and surrounding primary schools meant that it has a distinct local character.

Image source: Author, 2022

Custom House Bookshop

Custom House Bookshop

Local library (open 3 days a week)

Local attractions

Primary schools

Figure 38

Spatial context of Custom House Bookshop. The bookshop was founded due to a gap in the neighbourhood - the library was opened only 3 days a week, and the nearest bookshop was at least 20 minutes away by public transport (Stratford / Upton Park).

Image source: Author, 2022

Ink@84 Other bookshops

High street Arsenal Football Club Stadium

ExCeL

The Crystal Royal Victoria Dock

Figure 39

Spatial context of Libreria. Its location alongside Brick Lane meant that it attracted a very distinct crowd of tourists and visitors on weekends.

Image source: Author, 2022

According to Osborne (2015), visiting a bookshop is an opportunity to engage in a social and spatial act that engages material, aesthetic, political, personal, and communal affinities and commitments. In agreement with this, Nancy (2009) contends that the bookshop facilitates a physical space for ideas that fosters the emergence of communities. However, the spatial context of the location of independent bookshops also matters in the kinds of social life being convened. The four bookshops are all scattered across London in vastly different spaces, represent different ideals and have different characters. Consequently, its spatiality has conferred some form of specialisation in their operations. This attracts specific but nondefinite groups of people. Consequently, the programming of spaces further encourages common uses and experiences within these groups of people, echoing Amin’s (2008) concept of communal culture. These are not just places where people can consume and read, but progressively places where people can live, work, socialise and recuperate.

Libreria Other bookshops

Library Local attractions

Primary schools

Publishers

Libreria

Brick Lane

Spitalfields Market

Columbia Road Market

Nonetheless, many bookshops struggle to find the formula that will sustain their operations in the digitised world of electronci books and Amazon, the idea of the bookshop as a social environment where sociality, leisure and consumption overlap is becoming more and more common. While we are witnessing a rise of independent bookshops in recent years, many bookshops are also continuing to perish during the same period. Chains such as Waterstones have adopted the ‘independent bookshop model’. So, a level of specialisation for the bookshop is also a strategy against generic chains (Luyt and Heok, 2015). The numerous primary schools surrounding the bookshop can also influence the bookshop’s offerings (Figure 37 and 38). Above all, booksellers do perceive their commercial activities as being distinctive in capitalist markets. These ‘reluctant capitalists’ as Miller (2006) refers to them, see bookselling as an exceptionally moral endeavour. Anna shares this sentiment: ‘When you’re giving someone a book. I think it’s quite a responsibility. Some people don’t read that many books a year and you don’t want to just give them something because you’ve been told you got to sell 300 copies of it’.

Nonetheless, there is an element of temporality here again. Located off Brick Lane, in Libreria (Figure 39), a bookseller shared: ‘The weekend crowd is very much people who are in the neighbourhood specifically for Brick Lane. So that’s everything from people who have come from tourists to people who are local but are shopping in town. Especially on Sunday, we get all the Columbia Road market crowd too with everyone coming down with their flowers. We don’t really see our regulars at the weekend, because they know not to come.’

This was evident in the bookshops interviewed. Despite serving different social, cultural, and political groups, bookshops did not see themselves as mere businesses. Their purpose was all targeted towards a social good – to facilitate increased readership, to educate the next generation and to contribute to their locality. A love for the written word in conjunction with a mission that went beyond seeing books as just another commodity was very much evident (Luyt and Heok, 2015).

During my visits to Ink@84 and Libreria, visitors would often come in with a small piece of paper in their hand, looking for a specific book. Despite the rise of Amazon and other chain bookshops, the personal preference to walk into a physical independent bookshop is heartening to witness. Even when the bookshop did not have the requested book, visitors would ask if there was a nearby independent bookshop they could try.

Figure 40 - 41

An event supporting Bookmarks was organised after suffering an attack of hate-crime. It attracted so many people that the event had to move from the bookshop to the nearby church.

Image sources: Socialist worker, 2018; Metro, 2018

It is important too to acknowledge that bookshops are also hybrid in character; they are rooted in local physical communities yet connected to wide-reaching networks. In 2000, Bookmarks made the move to Bloomsbury, a neighbourhood which has been historically a hub for bookselling, writing and publishing. A bookseller shared that: ‘There used to be five, six other bookshops all around the corner. There was also Collins which was a Communist Party bookshop. So, the traditional left wing, bookselling in this area is also quite strong. It was nice to have a small kind of community’.

Unfortunately, in August 2018, Bookmarks became victims of a hate crime from far-right protestors. Despite the stress the attack caused, a bookseller shared that they were able to generate a lot of local support of those with similar cultural-political affinities. The following Saturday, a big rally was held in the nearby church where poets, artists, trade unionists, actors and many others came along to support the bookshop (Figures 40 and 41). This act of solidarity reveberated globally. The same bookseller communicated that:

‘The bookshop was getting phone calls from Chicago, radio stations in Kansas, and many other places. Also, online sales went up massively with lots of people started buying books in solidarity’.

School of Economics and

Passionate and Friendly Staff

As bookshops specialised, they progressively evolved into social infrastructures with a variety of information collection, archival, discussion, and distribution functions. By making reading accessible, booksellers genuinely believe they are helping society. Additionally, they find enormous satisfaction in the close bonds they develop with their visitors. Visitors are viewed in this way as neighbours rather than just sources of revenue. This stemmed from their independence from a sole concentration on profit (Miller, 2006). Booksellers embrace the opportunity to resist trends like mass consumption and global homogeneity (Li, 2010).

Independent booksellers stand out due to their wide selection of titles in stock and the ability of their buyers to select local-specific variety (Li, 2010). Also, an independent bookshop can differentiate itself by offering excellent and personal customer service. Building a rapport with consumers, the ability to promptly order books they do not currently have in store and having the extensive knowledge and willingness to respond to customers’ queries are elements that visitors to bookshops appreciate (Li, 2010).

At Libreria, booksellers routinely walked around the bookshop, stocking new books, and tidying up shelves that have become progressively messy during the day. Periodically, they would spot visitors browsing a book they are familiar with. Short conversations would then ensue with the bookseller sharing their interest in the book with the reader. These conversations were short, often lasting just about a minute, but for that brief moment, they facilitated a more convivial atmosphere in the shop, making it a more welcoming and supportive space.

At Custom House Bookshop, its location mean that they naturally have a diverse customer base. With over 100 languages spoken in the local borough, Custom House Bookshop often gets requests for english and non-engish books to help build their familiarity and fluency with the English language. The booksellers are always understanding of needs and are often able to render support in multiple ways. The bookshop therefore is a site of comfort and mobility. It provides a window of understanding the act of reading on a deeper level. Willow shared that having books of minority characters was essential (Figure 42). They recounted how a child once said to them:

‘I have a book and someone in it looks like me!’

They further shared:

‘It doesn’t matter whether you’re Chinese, or Pakistani, or African, or Caribbean, the children relate to people like them. This is why we try to get books featuring characters of various ethnicities.’

Thus, this refutes Laing and Royle’s (2013) claim that bookshops are mere places for loneliness. Bookshops are places where booksellers and visitors can form relationships. More than that, booksellers do often offer some level of social support outside the purview of a service transaction. At Libreria, visitors to Brick Lane would often pop in asking for advice on directions to other nearby attractions. Rosenbaum (2009), however, is critical, suggesting that there is an ‘evil side’ to service providers’ efforts to forge relationships with clients to boost sales. I disagree. Despite bookshops being fundamentally a business, booksellers are friendly and kind-hearted (Figure 43). They would also often recommend other bookshops in the locality to visit. Despite being inherently competitors, bookshops look out for one another and support each other. It demonstrates a way of living in a world that values friendship, collaboration, community, trust, and solidarity (Geoghegan, 2011; DeLand, 2012).

Figure 42 (left)

Staff at Custom House Bookshop made sure to stock books with characters from BAME and mixed backgrounds which better reflected the local identity. Here, biographies of Nelson Mandela and Rio Ferdinand can be seen displayed.

Image source: Author, 2022 Figure 43 (right)

During one of my days of observations at Libreria. I overheard a conversation between a bookseller and a visitor who was looking for a book on London’s architecture. I did not dare to interrupt the conversation then, but offered a suggestion. Three days later, on another visit, the book I suggested was now displayed on the shelf. Image source: Author, 2022

London School of Economics and

Going Beyond

While bookshops primarily sell books, they also display the ability to bridge divides through conversing, walking, browsing, purchasing, playing, eating, and socialising. The independent bookstore acts as social infrastructure by facilitating differences in the urban every day. It aids in providing a setting that is unique in recognising and accommodating diversity. The bookshop encourages both temporary and non-committal engagement as well as a sustained commitment to its programmes. Thus, it is an urban setting where programming goals and institutional inclusion initiatives coexist with lived experiences of ethnic and cultural diversity, or what is referred to as ‘commonplace diversity’ (Wessendorf 2013).

Along these lines, the bookshop can provide services adapted to particular communities, responding to local needs and strengthening local resilience. In doing so, the bookshop can be considered an iterative location. It understands who makes up the local community and is quick to respond to the needs and aspirations of its visitors. This is reflected in the wide range of ethnicity, educational backgrounds, and age groups present in the bookshops visited. At a time when both conceptions of everyday living together and the institutions that support this are surrounded by acute precariousness, a sense of attentiveness to the daily happenings of the community creates critical value.

At Libreria, English enrichment classes were held once a week on Monday evenings for the local community for which English was not a main language. Similarly, in Custom House Bookshop, Arts and Crafts workshops are organised regularly for children, teenagers and adults on Saturday mornings. These events are free of charge and showcase how independent bookshops can appreciate their role in the local community, going above and beyond their primary remit of selling books. Similarly, Ink@84 held workshops for children in the local area. This again was complimentary.

Nonetheless, the bookshop’s ‘openness’ and desire to connect with their community can sometimes function at the very edge of their abilities. Ink@84 felt it was hard to keep them running in the long run as events and programmes needed adequate financing and resourcing to run regularly. Thus, negotiating differences at the bookshop requires not only skill but also sustained and engaged forms of social labour and practice on the part of the booksellers.

Figures 44 - 46

Staff at Custom House Bookshop were often resourcesful and creative, scouring the internet for resources to create their own hand-made props for their weekly workshops. Here a hand-made telescope has been made during the week where the workshop’s theme was pirates.

Image sources: Author, 2022

Ultimately, the bookshop’s role as social infrastructure is not just a oneway interaction. It is a 2-way involvement between the bookshop and its visitors. A bookshop is a place where practices of public engagement are facilitated daily. Amin’s (2008) conceptualisation of the ‘lived’ experience of difference, which helps to consider everyday urbanity through dynamic processes of negotiation helps in understanding how public spaces and social infrastructure are shaped through unplanned socialbility. On my visit to one of the workshops organised by Custom House Bookshop, parents were chatting with one another as the children sang songs and did colouring exercises together (Figures 44 to 49). Various races were represented with people of various East Asian, European, and African descent. People took time to talk to one another, to discuss seemingly mundane issues about life. This was facilitated by sandwiches, crisps, fruits and drinks which parents and other volunteers from the community contributed. As the workshop ended, I overheard parents telling each other: ‘this is what we need when we were younger’, cementing the valuable contributions of the bookshop.

Figures 47 - 49

Tables were set up on Saturday mornings. Children would engage in colouring exercises together with other families.

Image sources: Author, 2022

Evidently, a lot goes on beyond buying a book. The bookshop’s spatial characteristics and social environment produce a setting that is accessible to ‘the daily negotiation of ethnic difference’ (Amin, 2002: 969). More importantly, independent bookshops do this knowingly and purposefully. Amin (2002) investigates the possibilities for ‘unsteady social spaces’, or what he also refers to as ‘micropublics’, which are regular opportunities for people to interact. Although ‘prosaic negotiations’ are thought to take place in ‘micropublics’, this does not necessarily mean that they do. The transformational element of interactions needs to be made explicit and worked on (Amin, 2002). The independent bookshop can elicit a story from spatial and social cues and help affect aspects of modern urban social life that are difficult to accurately describe. Bookshops sometimes serve as advice and action centres, albeit at a relatively smaller scale. In Custom House Bookshop, they provided general guidance and information on housing, legal, and educational concerns. The Council regularly drops off leaflets on a variety of events and services provided (Figure 50, 52 to 55). Similarly at Bookmarks, activist groups would often drop off pamphlets (Figure 51). The bookshop, then also becomes a site of publicity for various left-wing activist movements.

Figure 50

A corner in Custom House bookshop is set up just for notices, brochures and leflets. Its content was slightly different. Here, the bookshop stocked notices mostly from the local Council.

Image source: Author, 2022

Figure 51

A corner in Bookmarks is also set up just for notices, brochures and leflets. Its prominent position near the entrance menat that everyone would see it as they entered the bookshop.

Image source: Author, 2022

Therefore, the independent bookshop can offer a unique, specialised and legible sort of social infrastructure that welcomes and supports people without expecting anything in return. In particular, Custom House Bookshop neighbours a housing complex for people with mental, emotional and physical challenges. These people were often excluded from society. However, they would visit the bookshop and participate in events every week. Smurfette shared that: ‘For those who’ve got emotional problems, they say they find it quite calm here. And because they feel safe and secure here, they are happy to come and then participating things. And once they get familiar with the place, they feel comfortable and they come again and again’ This reflects what Robinson (2014) proffers in taking place seriously. She argues that this requires paying close attention to what locals have to say and to critically observe their daily activities but also to consider the way we look and the way we tell, for a more complex and potentially incongruous understanding of place to emerge. Through activities like this, the bookshop is more than just a place of books, it becomes a place of refuge and support too.

School of Economics and

Building and Expanding Networks

The independent bookshop often establishes links and networks via and around its neighbourhood. A detailed examination of daily life in these urban neighbourhoods through the independent bookshop reveals some of the many spatial and social consequences. Interestingly, despite being located alongside high streets or busy shopping areas, bookshops were not part of any formal local business networks. Nonetheless, Elinor shared: ‘In terms of the bookshops that are in town, we definitely are part of like an informal network with them in the sense that like, we will absolutely send people their way if we do not have something and vice versa. There was one time when they did not have enough books for their event because they did not turn up. So, we loaned them some books’.

Moreover, Custom House Bookshop has learned to be extremely resourceful as a new bookshop. A bookseller said that they were just at a primary school to do a presentation. They shared that ‘A new development is going to happen in the neighbourhood, and they are going to be constructing new roads. The developers have asked us if we could help facilitate brainstorming sessions and come up with names for the roads’.

As such, the developers have reciprocated by donating refurbished laptops to the bookshop which visitors could use for job applications, and homework. Custom House Bookshop has also benefitted from a relationship with a local supermarket to get snacks for their workshops and free toys donated.

Figure 52 - 55 A selection of brochures on display at Custom House Bookshop. Image sources: Author, 2022

These acts of infrastructuring (Korn, et al., 2019) do not operate in silo. Habermas (1989) acknowledged that coffeehouses acted as different nodes within an overall spatial network. Its numerous outlets on streets and as corner shops provided a distinct spatiality. He argues that the public spaces of the coffee shop, the salon, and the like resemble the ‘superhomes’ of the ‘superfamiliarity’ with conversations and noncommittal group encounters. Similarly, these bookshops do not exist in isolation. Despite the physical distance, bookshops find ways to connect with one another through various networks. The Bookseller’s Association (BA), for example, provides detailed information and resources required to start and maintain a bookshop. Smurfette shared that they consulted the resources guides from BA a lot in the set-up of the bookshop (Figure 56). This does not mean that bookshops would become increasingly homogenised. They commented that:

‘I had my ideas, but when I read it [the guides], I kind of fine tune them. It was always a space that I wanted to be bright and colourful and welcoming. It was just working out how would I do that?’

Figure 56

A selection of bookshop guides from the Booksellers Association (BA) alongside Regeneration Plans and Strategy documents from the Local Council.

Image source: Author, 2022

Anna agrees, they shared that: ‘Most bookshops in the UK have a membership to the BA, and they are there for advice. They run courses and it is nice that there is sort of a community. The BA also hosts annual events such as an Indie Bookshop Week, where they promote initiatives to visit local independent bookshops.’

Bookmarks is also a member of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers. This alliance emerged when radical bookshops began to grow in Britain in the 1960s, and they created distinctive venues that were frequently underfunded but politically significant. Members represented a variety of political ideologies, including anarchist, leftist, gay and lesbian, Irish, feminist, women’s, and green politics (Delap, 2016). Consequently, a focus on bookshops makes it possible to trace the ways that bookshops served as sites of activism in and of themselves. It also enables us to investigate how activism in social movements and business intersect (Delap, 2016). Geopolitical issues and neo-liberal economic interests do play into local contexts (Back and Sinha 2010). Ultimately, bookshops are not only places where the cause was spread but also birthed (Enke, 2007). A bookseller shared that there were practical benefits too (Figure 57): ‘When New Beacon Books in North London threatened to go under. I think the fact that people had ideas and there were groups to support them who said “we can do this, or we can help out!” That was useful.’

Figure 57

A crowdfunding page was started for New Beacon Books when they threatened to close down their physical space. In eight days, enough money was raised for New Beacon Books to survive and move to a cheaper space. Image source: Crowdfunder, 2022

Figures 58 - 59

Every year, Bookmarks pack up its shop (left) and head to the University of East London for the annual Marxism Festival (right). Image source: Twitter @Bookmarks, 2022

Another way that bookshops expand and build networks is to partake at conferences (Figures 58 to 61). For example, Bookmarks is the official bookseller at the annual Marxism Festival. A bookseller shared that: ‘For one week, we shut the whole store and take everything and move it to the University of East London. We also take part in conferences with the Trades Union Congress and National Education Union. While we may not make a profit off everything, it allows us to get the word out and make friends.’

In this section, I have argued that the bookshop can also serve as an essential form of social infrastructure. They are embedded in unique spatial contexts, with supportive staff and bookshops often go beyond to ‘generate affordances for social connections’ (Latham and Layton, 2019: 3). The space functions within itself but also sits within a wider network of institutions and stakeholders. This puts the bookshop in a unique position where it plays host to shifting ideas about identity, work, home, and support.

Figures 60 - 61

Bookmarks also takes part in other conferences such as Conferences for the Black Child (left) and TransPride London (right). Image source: Twitter @Bookmarks, 2022

London School of Economics and

WHAT NOW? WHAT NEXT?

A Renaissance?

Bookshops have consistently been labelled as a dying business since the 1950s (Carrion, 2017). In 2000, there were 1700 independent bookshops in the UK. By 2007, this had dropped to 1200. At the same time, the market share of bookshops dropped by 16% while supermarkets and online retailers increased their share by 90% and 183% respectively (O’Hare, 2007). By 2016, the number of independent bookshops dropped further to 867. Fortunately, there seems to be a resurgence as independent bookshop numbers rise to 1027 in 2021 (Flood, 2022). While booksellers interviewed were generally optimistic, there are undoubtedly increasing challenges. The bookshop continues to be situated between demands for economic targets and its obligation to the needs and experiences of its users. Anna summarised it well. She said: ‘We would like the independent bookshop to be a more public space, but we can only do it if you support us’.

Rise of the Chain Bookshops and Online Retailers

Firstly, chain bookshops are often criticised for engaging in unfair competition and harbouring monopolist intentions as they were more heavily influenced by profit-and-loss statements than by literary concerns (Miller, 2006). Since 1900, the UK Net Book Agreement (NBA) made sure that books could not be discounted and were all sold at the same fixed retail price. However, chain businesses like Borders and Waterstones began a relentless campaign to overturn the NBA in 1991 (Delap, 2016). The NBA was repealed in 1997. Subsequently, the sale of books expanded into new locations, like supermarkets. Chain bookshops could afford to offer multiple discounts, unlike independent bookshops. Overtime, Numerous bookshops were forced to close (Delap, 2016).

This was exacerbated due to the rising online competition. Targeting Amazon more directly, Independent Bookshops often label Amazon as their toughest competition because of their imports’ tax-exempt status and their aggressive discounting policies (Figure 62). I regularly observed in bookshops where people would take a photo of books they were interested in. They would then proceed (sometimes indiscretely) to check the prices of books online. Miller (2006) made the case that aggressive discounting practices ingrained in consumers the idea that discounts are

Figure 62

To combat the rise of chain bookshops and online retailers, Ink@84 joined an alliance with other independent bookshops to offer an alternative.

Image source: IslingtonNow, 2020

the standard in the industry. This were strategies that were solely available to chains (Laing, 2020). This revealed opposing ideologies about how the exchange of books is more than a commodity (Miller, 2006).

Independent bookshops, however, are attempting to be nimble and compete on the online space too. When lockdowns came into force in the UK due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anna shared: ‘We were really pleasantly surprised that a lot of people turned to reading during lockdown. So, we set up an online website really quickly. By the end of March 2020, we were delivering on bikes around the area.’

For Bookmarks, online sales have grown to about a third of its revenue. Beyond just a website, independent bookshops have also been turning to social media to connect with customers. At the same time, Anna shared that ‘It allows the booksellers to be creative. If you’ve read a book you really love, you can write a nice review. And that personal recommendation means a lot to a lot of people. It’s not just a PR [Personal Relations].’

Rising Rents and Thinning Profit Margins

Secondly, rent is a huge issue for bookshops that are not fortunate enough to own their current spaces. Most bookshops rent their space. Both Bookmarks and Custom House Bookshop, rent from their local Council, but the rent they paid were vastly different. Custom House Bookshop has their premises on meanwhile use for a peppercorn rate. Bookmarks, however, pays the same market rent as surrounding shops on the street in an increasingly gentrifying neighbourhood. Nonetheless, the declining profit margins of bookshops was exacerbated due to expenditure reductions from public authorities like Local Education Authorities and Library Services (Delap, 2016). Yet, with the increasing rents and a norm of discounts, independent bookshops operate on an increasingly thin profit margin. Consequently, many booksellers are not compensated fairly. A bookseller shared that despite having a degree, they are only paid the London living wage. Delap (2016) labels this as a form of ‘selfexploitation’ in which booksellers take advantage of themselves to help the shop survive. Although many bookshops were committed to paying good wages, it was challenging to do so in reality. The frailty of attempts to find ethical concessions with capitalism became increasingly evident. Thus, independent bookshops’ cultural contributions should be recognised through a reform of the business rates system and by subsidising bookshops’ operating expenses. Bookshops should also be given opportunities to rent Council-owned properties at a discounted or peppercorn rate.

Recognising Contributions

Thirdly, while people believed that books serve a vital purpose in society (Young, 2007), these were hard to quantify. It is also crucial to recognise that books are seen as a different type of commodity. Because of this distinction, booksellers do not fully represent nor thrive in the market’s competitive characteristics (Miller, 2006) and should be given some protection from the pressures of the free market. Custom House Bookshop currently relies on community project grants and volunteer help. They are currently applying for a grant of £20,000 from the local Council. Their fate, however, relies on the community as Newham Council has relegated the decision to residents who are forced to navigate the complex online infrastructure to vote (Figure 63).

There is room to recognise and reward booksellers as social infrastructure and safe spaces, to acknowledge the cultural contribution made by

Figure 63

An application for funding of £20,000 put forth by the Custom House Bookshop has been delegated to the local community.

Image source: Newham Council cocreate, 2022

bookshops in organising events and workshops, and to provide community space for reading groups and schools.

Thus, local Councils should create partnerships with local independent bookshops again, with schools and libraries ordering books from local independent bookshops. A number of author events could be held biannually at libraries and schools, with materials obtained from nearby booksellers. Independent bookshops are more than mere shops on the high street. They should be understood as social infrastructure which can strengthen the symbiotic link between schools, libraries, and booksellers in addition to providing social infrastructural benefits for the neighbourhood.

This research has demonstrated that Independent Bookshop do a lot for their community. However, there is also undoubtedly a barrier to access them. Anna recognises this. She reflects: ‘In many ways, buying books at full price is a privilege.’

Opportunities for extra funding is crucial then to enable booksellers to pursue their non-business objectives of supporting the community. She adds that the opportunity to apply and get grants ‘will give bookshops the freedom to get a bit more creative, take risks, do more for their communities and connect with a wider audience.’

A multi-scalar spectrum of public spaces and social infrastructure is beneficial to urban life by creating diversity and vibrancy. Providing long-term opportunities for financial support is not an entirely new and radical idea. In the 1980s, the Arts Council provided funds of about £60,000 annually. Additionally, support for booksellers was provided by local governments and development agencies (Delap, 2016). In London specifically, bookshops and other cultural businesses were actively supported by the Greater London Council (GLC). As a means of supporting job development, the GLC Industry and Employment Committee provided subsidies to help with operating funds for bookshops while its Arts and Recreation Committee backed feminists and booksellers by giving bookshops an annual donation of about £30,000 (Delap, 2016). However, after the GLC was disbanded in 1986 along with cuts to library and educational spending, booksellers began to suffer significantly (Cholmely, 1991).

Figures 64 - 65

When COVID-19 descended upon the world and lockdowns were placed on cities, independent bookshops like Libreria and Bookmarks had to rely on crowdfunding to stay alive. This demonstrated the precarious state of bookshops and the pressing need to support them.

Image sources: Crowdfunder, 2022

Figure 66

Bookmarks

Image source: Author, 2022

CONCLUSIONS

The significance of the independent bookshop’s contributions to urban life as a public space and social infrastructure is evident through this research. To speak of social infrastructure is to speak of a wide range of spaces - many of which are not normally thought of as public spaces, although many conceptions of publicness can be identified (Latham and Layton, 2019). Bookshops can be sites that facilitate encounters, but their use and function go beyond that. The bookshop sits on a spectrum, oscillating between being wholly public and private depending on its function, users and activities. At specific times, it also serves as social infrastructure, supporting communities and building sociality.

Throughout the paper, I have made the active choice to abandon the term ‘customers’ and use ‘visitors’ instead to underscore the increasing publicness of the independent bookshop. While I acknowledge my subjectivity and positionality in supporting the independent bookshop, the bookshop remains a vulnerable public. We need to better value and appreciate the bookshop as an active instrument in connecting and developing networks by understanding it as a setting for shifting and negotiating points of social contact and encounters. This, however, is not a call to preserve the bookshop as a static and unchanging place. The independent bookshop continuously finds ways to innovate and adapt to serve its different communities. It has an inherent durability and this research has gained insights into its various ways of infrastructuring (Korn, et al., 2019) (Figure 67). The gradual but critical accumulation of social practices and modes of knowing that develop daily in the bookshop should be legitimised and supported.

Libreria Ink@84 Bookmarks Custom House Bookshop

Physical Setting

Spatial context

Passionate staff

Independent Bookshops

What is accomplished What is possible Networks Going beyond

Public Space/ Public Sphere Social Infrastructure

Figures 67

The Independent Bookshop’s instruments of ‘infrastructuring’ (Korn, et al., 2019)

Image source: Author, 2022

The independent bookshop exist not as a singular element, but always contributes to and is reliant on a set of related spatio-temporal elements. As the independent bookshop continues to adapt and grow with shifting socio-economic and cultural patterns, romanticising the bookshop’s success and contributions in the face of urban development may be naive. Pressing economic realities, such as London’s high rental fees, high business rates, and constant competition, will put the adaptability and creativity of the independent bookshop to the test. The future seems bright. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is its influence on people to read more and shop local. Booksellers are generally optimistic and Jeremy sums it up well: ‘More young people have been coming along in the last few years. We have survived the pandemic, and I think we can look forward optimistically and carry on the work.’

Above all, we must invest in our independent bookshops.

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Image Credits

Cover: Author, 2022

Page 2, 4, 6: Author, 2022

Figure 1: Miller, L. J. (2006) Reluctant capitalists: Bookselling and the culture of consumption. London: University of Chicago Press. Image available at: < https://www.degruyter.com/document/ doi/10.7208/9780226525921/html> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 2: Osborne, H. E. (2015) The rise of the modernist bookshop: Books and the commerce of culture in the twentieth century. Oxon: Routledge. Image available at: < https://www.amazon.co.uk/ Modernist-Bookshop-Studies-Publishing-History/dp/0367880849> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 3: Young, S. (2007) The book is dead (Long live the book). Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. Image available at: < https:// www.amazon.co.uk/Modernist-Bookshop-Studies-PublishingHistory/dp/0367880849> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 4: Bythell, S. (2017) Dairy of a Bookseller. London: Profile Books. Image available at: <https://www.the-bookshop.com> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 5: Bythell, S. (2019) Confessions of a Bookseller. London: Profile Books. Image available at: <https://www.the-bookshop.com> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 6: Hanff, H. (2002) 84 Charing Cross Road. London: Virago Press. Image available at: < https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/helenehanff/84-charing-cross-road/9781860498503?gclid=CjwKCAjw6M KXBhA5EiwANWLODDWDlQwWJnfI9hCPCyiRtEyR8HLgOeMFV MQZN5A450wlf0euum7ngxoCmWsQAvD_BwE#GOR001450104> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 7: Laties, A. (2011) Rebel Booksellers. Why Indie Businesses represent everything you want to fight for – from free speech to buying local to building communities. New York: Seven Stories Press. Image available at: < https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-BooksellerBookstores-Everything-Communities-ebook/dp/B004J4X7FI> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 8: Wassef, N. (2021) Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller. London: Corsair. Image available at: <https://blackwells.co.uk/ bookshop/product/Chronicles-of-a-Cairo-Bookseller-by-NadiaWassef/9781472156822> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figures 9 to 10: Author, 2022

Figures 11 to 12: Greater London Authority (GLA) (2020) ‘Connective

London School of Economics and

Social Infrastructure – How London’s Social Spaces and Networks help us live well together. [online] Available at: <https://www.london. gov.uk/sites/default/files/connective_social_infrastructure_0_0. pdf> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figures 13 to 26: Author, 2022

Figure 27: Screengrab from Bookmarks’ Youtube page. Available at: < https://www.youtube.com/c/BookmarksBookshop> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figures 28 to 39: Author, 2022

Figure 40: Guy Smallman in Tengely-Evans, T. (2018) ‘Supporters pack into Bookmarks bookshop for day of solidarity after Nazi attack’. Socialist Worker. [online] Available at: < https://socialistworker. co.uk/news/supporters-pack-into-bookmarks-bookshop-for-day-ofsolidarity-after-nazi-attack/> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 41: REX in Tamplin (2018) ‘Hundreds show solidarity with socialist bookshop targeted in right-wing protest’. Metro. [online] Available at: < https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/11/hundreds-show-solidaritysocialist-bookshop-targeted-right-wing-protest-7827942/> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figures 42 to 56: Author, 2022

Figure 57: Screengrab from New Beacon Bookshop’s Crowdfunder page. Available at: <https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-new-beaconbookshop> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 58: Twitter (@Bookmarks) Image available at: <https://twitter. com/Bookmarks_books/status/1541434102129336320> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 59: Twitter (@Bookmarks) Image available at: <https://twitter. com/Bookmarks_books/status/1542848043271307264> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 60: Twitter (@Bookmarks) Image available at: <https://twitter. com/Bookmarks_books/status/1535561612547002368> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 61: Twitter (@Bookmarks) Image available at: < https://twitter. com/Bookmarks_books/status/1545744920010493954> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 62: Screengrab from IslingtonNow. Available at: Lillywhite, C. (2020) ‘Highbury bookshop joins initiative launched as Amazon alternative’. IslingtonNow [online] Available at: <https:// islingtonnow.co.uk/highbury-bookshop-joins-initiative-launched-asamazon-alternative/> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 63: Screengrab from Newham Council co-create. Available at:

Newham Council (2022) ‘The ACID project by the Custom House Bookshop’. Newham co-create [online] Available at: < https:// newhamco-create.co.uk/en/ideas/the-acid-project-by-the-customhouse-bookshop> [Accesed 1 August 2022].

Figure 64: Screengrab from Libreria’s Crowdfunder page. Available at: <https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-libreria-bookshop> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 65: Screengrab from Bookmark’s Crowdfunder page. Available at: <https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/bookmarks-bookshop-urgentappeal> [Accessed 1 August 2022].

Figure 66 to 67: Author, 2022

Page 75: Author, 2022

APPENDIX A

Observation Schedule

Date Time Bookshop Remarks

6 May 2022 1130 to 1230 Ink@84

10 May 2022 1400 to 1500 Libreria

20 May 2022 1500 to 1600 Ink@84

15 June 2022 1800 to 1930 Ink@84 Event

20 June 2022 1200 to 1300 Bookmarks

21 June 2022 1200 to 1330 Custom House Bookshop

6 July 2022 1100 to 1600 Libreria 7 July 2022 1100 to 1700 Custom House Bookshop

8 July 2022 1430 to 1600 Bookmarks

9 July 2022 1100 to 1330 Custom House Bookshop Workshop 9 July 2022 1400 to 1700 Libreria

16 July 2022 1200 to 1630 Ink@84

22 July 2022 1500 to 1730 Ink@84

2 August 2022 1300 to 1500 Bookmarks

APPENDIX B

Interview Schedule

An ethics review was conducted prior to field research. In the process of interviews, interviewees have been given the opportunity to choose their own pseudonym.

Date

Pseudonym Location

Wednesday 6th August 2022 Elinor Meeting room Thursday 7th August 2022 Smurfette In bookshop

Thursday 7th August 2022 Willow In bookshop Friday 8th August 2022 Jeremy In neighbouring cafe Saturday 16th August 2022 Anna In bookshop

All interview participants have also been anonymised. However, I have taken the decision to keep the names of bookshops. The reasons for this are two-fold. Firstly, images and diagrams are crucial to this research project as it attempts to shed light on various instruments bookshops employ to elevate their status. This, unfortunately, makes it difficult to hide the identity of bookshops in this research. Secondly and more importantly, It is the principle of this research project to highlight the excellent work independent bookshops have contributed to. By featuring the four bookshops prominently, we take a crucial step in recognising their valiant efforts, and hopefully inspire more to value the invaluable contributions of independent bookshops. Care, however, has been taken to ensure that interviewees cannot be attributed to any single bookshop. In cases where quotes selectively refer to a distinct bookshop, the term ‘bookseller’ has been employed.

APPENDIX C

Interview Guiding Questions

• Tell me about how you got into the bookselling businesses?

• Tell me about the history of this bookshop? Why a bookshop?

• Why did the bookshop choose to settle in this particular area?

• Can you tell me how is the bookshop organised? Was there a conscious decision in designing the physical space?

• Just focusing on books, tell me who uses the bookshop? Do you see a lot of people from the local community, children, retirees, people from further, regulars?

• Tell me some of the things that people do here besides buying books?

• How do you guys organise these activities?

• What is the role of social media?

• What is the role of an online shop?

• Are you guys part of a wider network? Book associations, high streets, etc.

• Tell me about some of the challenges in running the bookshop and its various activities

• Tell me about some of the funding challenges, I know many bookshops rely on volunteers or grants from various government bodies, is there an issue for you guys?

• How do you guys try to connect and support the wider community? Do you see yourselves as just a business, or something more?

• Is there something you would like to share that I have not mentioned?

Navigating Independent Bookshops as Public Spaces and Social Infrastructure

London School of Economics and Political Science SO449 Independent Project

Navigating Independent Bookshops as Public Spaces and Social Infrastructure