Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 12:11 am
Castle Books, a historic second-hand bookshop in Totnes, Devon, has launched a £135,000 crowd-funding campaign to acquire its premises at 4 Castle Street and secure its future. The building is up for sale, and the shop’s lease is coming to an end, placing the future of the much-loved shop in jeopardy.
The shop is operated entirely by volunteers who organise regular literary events for the community, including a monthly book group and poetry open mic. Any profits from book sales are channelled back into the local community to support local literary causes, including Totnes Library, which has received over £5,000 from the shop since 2021.
Grove School, Totnes, has also been a beneficiary, with Headteacher Hilary Priest saying: “The Totnes community bookshop at Castle Street has been a godsend to us over the years helping us to buy new books for our children. The donations they give have meant that our children are really supported in their love of reading and their readiness for secondary school.”
The shop began in 1969 when Belle Collard bought 4 Castle Street and opened Totnes’s first vegetarian and wholefood café. In 1972 Belle put a shelf of books in the upstairs dining area, and gradually the books took over from the food. In 1991, aged 72, she took the decision to limit the shop to the ground floor. When Belle sadly passed away in 2013, she bequeathed her entire stock of books to her volunteers who established a Community Interest Company (CIC) to continue the shop’s operation.
Volunteer manager Francis Checkley said: “We recognise that it is a big ask in these difficult times, but we want to do all we can to secure Belle’s legacy and keep Castle Books as a thriving literary and community hub for Totnes – hopefully for another 50 years!”
Book lovers from Totnes and around the world are being urged to support the campaign by visiting its crowd funding page, making a donation, and helping to spread the word on social media.
