About
ninety second-hand bookshops in the UK were reported as closed in 2024. This figure is based on
reports to The Book Guide, usually by customers, occasionally by the
bookdealers themselves or from their announcements. It compares to about 40 in
2023 and 60 in 2022.

I say ‘reported as closed’ in 2024 because some
had in fact closed earlier. This year’s total includes quite a bit of ‘catching up’. About thirty shops
that had been listed on the guide but with few signs of activity have been
checked up on during the year by doughty volunteer researchers, and in fact
found to have gone some time ago. Thus, the higher total than recent years is partly
the effect of better data. Probably, therefore, the truer total for the one
year, discounting this backlog, is around 60. 

And they were not all full-scale bookshops as such:
some, though they had a significant stock, were parts of antiques centres, or market
stalls, etc. (see below for a note on what the Guide includes). Also, in a few
cases, the shop or unit remained open, but changed its type of stock, for
example by switching to new books.  

The
reasons for closure included redevelopment of premises, the end of a lease, relocation,
and retirement. As can be seen, most of these reasons are not directly due to a
decline in trade.  The total also
includes 15 charity bookshops. 

But those
we have lost do include some long-established firms such as Arthur Probsthain of
Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, the veteran specialists in Orientalia;
Broadhurst’s of Southport, Lancashire, which had been a haven of old-world
courtesy; and Candle Lane Books of Shrewsbury, an archetypal story-book
bookshop in an early 18^th century house, with four floors, two
creaking staircases, rooms at odd angles and a dusty attic. It is a shame to
see such venerable places vanish.

However,
the overall figure is not quite so dismaying as it looks, because there have of course been openings (and discoveries) too. Indeed, these
exceed the closures by some distance, at well over 100. It is true that most of
these are charity or community bookshops, which are increasingly where
second-hand books are to be found. However, there are some determined
individual booksellers opening bookshops too.

Notable
examples of this in 2024 include Second Page in Bristol, described by a visitor
as an ‘Absolutely spiffing second hand bookshop – terrific stock, lovely sofa,
and chatty, friendly staff. Highly recommended.’ There’s also Bodies in the Bookshop, Cambridge, for new and old crime fiction, ‘a must-visit destination
for mystery lovers in Cambridge and beyond’ said one customer.

Oxford,
meanwhile, offers Curio Books and Culture, an interesting example of the new
trend for hybrid venues where books are part of a wider offering: ‘What becomes
of those closed bank branches? Wine bars? Upscale estate agents?’ asks a
reviewer, ‘Well, this one’s now a centre for crafting, co-working, repair
shops, a cafe, and—down in the vault—a bookshop. “Vault” sounds
austere, but this is a welcoming space, lamplit and hushed (at least when I was
there), with a carefully curated selection of books.’ There are other examples
of such hybrids opening, such as a book café in Folkestone, Kent, and a shop in
Frome, Somerset, which also offers collectable records and a badge museum.

It
is true that if you are after a classic or nostalgic version of the second-hand
bookshop, it is now harder to find, though by my estimate there are still over
300 of these. But if you just want to browse a good stock of second-hand books,
and are not devoted to a particular atmosphere or experience, there are more second-hand
bookshops now than there were for most of the 20^th century. On the
best available evidence, there were 523 in 1955 (and fewer before), 625 in
1966, 942 in 1984: and there are over 1,000 now. The big change is that many
more are now charity or community run, and the second noticeable change is towards
hybrid shops like those illustrated above.  

A
typical, reasonably prosperous town now might have permutations from four or
five significant second-hand book sources: a privately-owned, well-established
bookshop, a full-scale bookshop run by a national charity, an antiques centre
with several book rooms or units, a community bookshop for the local hospice or
other good causes, and a café, arts centre or other louche boho hang-out with a
curated book section. Variations on this sort of list abound. Some towns, of
course, will have none of these.

Indeed,
these changes bring their own stimulus and satisfactions. Readers and collectors must now use even
more persistence and ingenuity, because second-hand books are to be found
lurking in a much wider range of places than ever before, some offbeat, unlikely
and obscure. In
my own part of the world, for example, there are stocks of several hundreds and
more at the back of a rural church, upstairs in a craft gallery, in a
supermarket foyer, in a community hub, and at least twice a month in a village
hall flea market (with some particularly unusual finds). The thrill of the quest is still there.

(Mark
Valentine)

A
Note on Definitions.  The
Book Guide lists: ‘Any business with a significant stock of secondhand or
collectable books, that welcomes visitors at advertised times or by prior
appointment. This includes permanent units in antique markets, private
bookrooms and weekly market stalls. Stock can be small if good or specialised,
but books should be the only or main holdings. Thus, a charity bookshop should
be included, but a general charity shop should not, unless it has a
room’s-worth of books.’

Image:
Seven Roads Gallery of Book Trade Labels