Big Green Bookshop hit by theft

The Big Green Bookshop in London's Wood Green had £600 stolen from its till yesterday (7th April).

Co-owner Simon Key told The Bookseller that while fellow co-owner Tim West was helping a customer look for a book, someone took £600 from the bookshop's till. Key said that it was “poor timing as Tim was just counting the money to take it to the bank”.

The incident was reported to police, but Key is pessimistic about finding the perpetrator.

“We had someone from forensics come and dust for fingerprints," Key said. "But before Tim had noticed the money had gone there'd been a lot of people come in and out of the shop, so it’s massively unlikely that they’ll catch the thief.”

Sam Jordison, co-director of Galley Beggar Press, has set up a crowdfunding page for the shop which raised £65 in five minutes. The fund had rasied nearly £1,500 by the time this article was published after benefitting from a £500 donation.

Key said: “It’s just a lovely thing for Sam to do. It raised £65 in five minutes which is just ridiculous. It’s incredible. My faith was dented yesterday but it’s rapidly being restored by this.”

Jordison said: "It's a tough time to be running a bookshop - and losing money like this makes it all the tougher. This crime sucks especially because The Big Green Bookshop is far more than a retail outlet. Simon, Tim and all the staff work incredibly hard not just to bring literature to a part of London too many people write-off, but to bring people together there, to run exciting and interesting events, to involve all kinds of people... They rock, basically. I love this place, I know many other people do and it's awful to see them hurt."

He added: "Speaking in broader terms, we all love the idea of independent bookshops and having them in our communities - but it's often hard to know how to support them. Giving a few quid here is something you can do right now to help maintain a vital outpost on the British literary scene. Go to it friends!"

Donations can be made here.