The Aardvark Blog

Thinking about books and bookselling
19/03/2014

Over the last week  I have given a couple of interviews - one to a bookseller blog and the other to a specialist French magazine - about books and bookselling, and last night found me in Ross talking to the Friends of Ross Library group about the same kinds of issues.

I am not by nature a reflective person, but answering many of the same questions has made me think a little about what we do here. Are we engaged in re-arranging the deck chairs, or is there a real possibility that something of the book world that I have known all my life will survive. Certainly last night's audience left me in no doubt that there is a genuine positive feeling towards bookshops, but will that be enough to counterbalance the severe pressures that the industry is suffering. Figures from the music industry released today seem to show that once one has disappeared down the digital rabbit hole it takes a very long time before you hit bottom.

Still here in Aardvark the year is definitely under way and we have had some very busy days over the last few weeks. We are also heavily involved in planning for the events of the year, and today i have been juggling emails with people working on five different exhibitions which will run in the bookshop over the course of the next six months.

Our first exhibition is 'Under the Hammer' an exhibition of 200 original auction posters produced for the company of John Norton and Sons between 1919 and 1945. Given their age the posters are in extraordinary condition, and many are accompanied by the original auction catalogues for the sales.

After that we have our largest ever map exhibition ( Mapping Wales and the Council of the Marches ), a group exhibition for the first ever Shropshire Hills Art Week and a Book art and Prints show curated by Drusilla Cole. Art has always been important to us at Aardvark, but we have never attempted such an ambitious exhibition programme before. The logistics are causing me a few sleepless nights, but each event is one which will bring something distinctive to the shop and our customers.

I have also today confirmed when we will receive our next big consignment of history books, and customers with a historical bent will find much to their liking by Easter, as we have over  500 new academic and general history titles arriving in the week before Easter.