Familiarity, Community, and Energy: A Conversation with Darling Reads Bookshop
‘I would say a large majority of the bookshop is for young adults and children. It’s so nice to see younger faces coming through the doors, really excited to pick their books. And we’ve also still got the customers who have been here donkey’s years!’
Laura and Shelley
Darling Reads Bookshops
Would you be able to tell me a little bit more about Darling Reads and how it’s different to other book shops, and also maybe a bit more about you and your journey towards becoming a bookseller?
We have a small bookshop in Horbury, which is a small village within the Wakefield district. It’s quite unique as a village in that it sort of reminds me a little bit of Postman Pat; there’s the butchers, the bakers, we’re next door to a florist, and there are just so many small businesses; it’s kind of a little bubble. I would say it’s quite a bit different from the other towns and villages in and around Wakefield – it’s got a really, really strong sense of community, which I think sometimes is missing or starting to dwindle a little bit in other towns.
For years, this bookshop was a really old school bookshop with piles of books everywhere. Richard, who ran Rickaro Books, specialising in fine and antiquarian books, really knows his stuff. So, it’s a shop that has really been supported by the community as it’s been around for a very long time.
Given the strong sense of community in Horbury, how do you see the bookshop’s place within Horbury? How do you think it benefits people?
I think there’s a real sense of families and children making a trip to our bookshop a regular routine. Actually, I would say a large majority of the bookshop is for young adults and children. It’s so nice to see younger faces coming through the doors, really excited to pick their books. And we’ve also still got the customers who have been here donkey’s years! Now we’re an independent bookshop and things have changed – we sell new books instead of second hand and everybody has really embraced us. It’s so lovely the sense of familiarity and energy that it has brought.
You’re changing with the time?
Yes! We’re still catering for members of the community who have always been here. We can still provide that service they need – it’s that face to face element. So many people still prefer to talk to you face to face; they want to see you, they want to hear you, they want to know that you’re there and are going to do the job for them and find what they need.
And then you’ve also got all the other avenues for other customers, such as social media. For example, we had someone message us on Instagram this week to say, ‘My little boy’s dropped his Stick Man [by Julia Donaldson] in the bath. Can you get me the board book to replace it?’ And we did! We can do next working day deliveries, so it’s all very efficient and customers really appreciate that. So, the next working day she came back!
And then we also get our regulars. I think people might assume you don’t get regulars as much in a bookshop, but you really do, and you really get to know them as individuals. You can pre-empt what they’re going to ask for next and their requests. There are now a lot of younger families in and around Horbury that come into the bookshop every week; there are these two little girls, I shouldn’t have favourites, but they come in for each instalment of the Isadora Moon series and it’s just such a nice feeling to see them so excited. Again, what makes us unique I think is just the energy and vibrancy and the kind of individuals that we are. We embrace whoever comes through the door.
That’s so lovely! It sounds like you have created the perfect mix between the stability and regularity of customers and keeping up with changes around you. The community know you’re always there, but then at the same time, you’re moving with the times with new generations, which is really lovely!
I think so, and so many people are happy the bookshop is still here! Asher and Laura opened as we went into the first lockdown, and they were determined to make it work. They just said, ‘We will take the books to the people. We will find ways to make sure that this bookshop is still is still functioning even though the doors are closed’. It was about finding new ways around the issues, like a lot of businesses did, such click and collect. Asher and Laura definitely didn’t just sit back and expect people to walk through the doors. There are also a lot of connections with libraries and other parts of the community in and around Wakefield. We make connections with everybody.
Clearly, the community around you is amazing, but I guess the relationship has to work two ways. How important is the passion of the booksellers, and the interactions people get within the shop?
Asher has worked in different independent businesses within Horbury most of her adult life, from 16-17 years old, and she’s the local. Customers will often come in and ask for her. So again, there’s this sense of trust with their books when asking for recommendations. People do really want to ask your opinion and it is quite amazing when they come back in and say, ‘You recommended me this title and it was amazing. Could you give me another recommendation?’ It is usually Asher because she is very good at pinpointing what people are after, and I’d say 99% of the time, we get it right!
In regard to the Read It Forward campaign by Bookshop.org, how important are such initiatives to you? How do you think this initiative and others impact your bookshop?
I think, initially, we hadn’t been using Bookshop.org enough as a business. So, Asher asked me to take a lead on it and make sure we were on top of it. And I said yes, absolutely! My skillset as a teacher was really helpful and Mark [at bookshop.org] is an absolutely wonderful human being. He had a conversation with me to talk about what we could do and how we can move forward, and he taught me a little bit more about how you use the website and how to interact with things like the Read It Forward initiative. So, anything like that, which comes up, and that we think works for our shop or reflects what goes on in Darling Reads, are such great opportunities. As a previous teacher, I also think Book Trust is an absolute amazing resource, so would do anything to support them.
In regard to Bookshop.org specifically, Mark talked about being consistent and frequent with our content, and about deciding what things to acknowledge and initiatives to take part in. So, I was looking again at days of recognition and it’s so interesting how many days in the year that relate to a literary theme we can utilise! For example, it was International Polar Bear Day at the end of February, so we’re thinking about some of the books we’ve got that we could talk about more and how we could use it to talk about the environment, for example. March is a busy month with Easter, World Book Day and Mother’s Day, so you have to be forward thinking, but I find those little things give you a little bit of energy!
Also, looking at other booksellers and being aware of other booksellers has been incredibly helpful. There’s an amazing book shop in Harrogate and the amount of content and time they must spend filming, I really appreciate. I know we couldn’t do exactly the same thing, but even just looking at what they’re doing sparks new ideas.
And I guess your community also just grows wider the more you reach and the more platforms and initiatives you take part in?
Definitely! We’re in this little place in West Yorkshire, and all we want to do is talk about all these amazing writers and the books that children or adults have bought, loved, and then come back and told us that they’ve loved them. And Read It Forward has been really nice because now I’m following a lot more authors and illustrators and letting them know that we really love their books. So again, it’s just quite nice that there’s a conversation happening through that initiative. I know it’s so silly, but when an author or illustrator reposts or comments on something you do, you feel really acknowledged and we appreciate that recognition a lot.
For Read It Forward, I asked all of our team to send me their most nostalgic children’s books that we put into a big Bookshop.org list, which was so fun. So, I was wondering if you could tell me about a few books that remind you of your childhood and are really nostalgic? And also, what are some newer titles that you just love recommending and wish you could have read as a child?
It’s going to be a little bit clichéd, but I suppose, Jacqueline Wilson, and she’s still going! I’ve not had a chance to read some of the newer titles but it’s really interesting when children come in and ask, ‘Do you like Jacqueline Wilson?” and they’ve read them all. A little girl came in and said she was reading The Lottie Project, and that book is one that has stayed with me for so many years now. I’m 35, but you’ve got children who are still reading her titles and loving them. She’s just got a way of not patronising children, even though a lot of the books are quite dark in ways and some of the characters are going through really difficult times. Ah, I remember reading The Illustrated Mum and I was just obsessed with it.
That was my favourite!
Every chapter was of one of her tattoos, wasn’t it? She was a single mother and I guess, at the time, you’re not quite aware of its significance until you’re an adult and you realise that either yourself or your friends are experiencing those exact things.
Harry Potter, goes without saying, doesn’t it? I think if you’re the same age as Harry, it was as though you were going on the journey with him. And I was that person that went to the bookshop and queued up at whatever o’clock just to get the next book. Other big titles in the bookshop are the Skandar series, and we really truly understand the hype! The high quality fantasy is just amazing, and both adults and children can enjoy it.
Also, we have huge love for Lost Whale, Lost Bear by Hannah Gold. I think I’m drawn to fantasy and how she really captures you in these worlds. And of course, Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell. We were at the Bookseller conference at the start of September, and she was one of the guest speakers, and she spoke a lot about the research and time that went into it. I think you can underestimate how much time and energy and research goes into creating a children’s book.
It’s really nice how every bookshop takes a few authors under their wing – I think so many shops create a connection with certain authors and really champion them.
Yes! And I think, for me, I love those juicy fantasies that make you feel like you’re leaving reality. It’s that escapism that really appeals to us, particularly when you’re recommending children’s books. I’ve actually read a lot of the children’s graphic novels recently, such as Peanut, Butter & Crackers. It’s just a story of a dog and a cat and what’s going on in their brains. My partner loves a graphic novel, but I was always telling him, ‘No, you need to read the classics’, coming from an English Literature background. I had a sense that you are not really reading if it’s a graphic novel as it’s not the same process as reading a narrative. But actually, you are, and now I really embrace a graphic novel.
Ultimately, it’s about pleasure, and we should never forget that the whole point of being here is really for the pleasure of it. So, if that is accompanied by great illustrations and drawings, we absolutely embrace that as well! You need to embrace it. And that way you’ll have children reading for longer.
Yes, because they might start by reading graphic novels, but then that might lead them onto other things that that might not have otherwise found.
Yes! And it’s interesting because we’ve had some customers who said they wouldn’t read again because of something that happened in school. That period of education sometimes puts up barriers and tells people that reading isn’t for them. But then, as adults, they’ve come into the bookshop and found a whole list or genres that they really love, which is so nice to see.
I think that’s ultimately why we’re here. Bookshops are different to the school libraries, and while we completely understand the importance of school libraries and we've been lucky enough to update and fill some local school libraries recently, sometimes children can’t always switch off in libraries because they’re still within an educational setting. And actually, they’re sometimes pushed and navigated into certain situations with levels etc, which can be a bad thing because sometimes they want to push back. But when they come into a bookshop, there’s a different feel about how we process, look at books, look at the front, look at the title, read the blurb, and pick it up. It’s important to let them know it’s okay for them to pick up any book, have a little look, read the first few pages and just have that reading independence.
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