O’Reilly defects to former Dulwich rival Village Books

Sheila O’Reilly is to join Village Books in Dulwich, south London, as its events manager, just months after departing its local rival, fellow indie Dulwich Books.

The latter outlet was sold by former owner O’Reilly to The Marsh Agency co-founder Susie Nicklin in 2015, with O’Reilly remaining on the staff until September 2016, when she departed seeking a “new challenge”.

Village Books owner Hazel Broadfoot said: “Events play an increasingly important role for independent booksellers and Sheila has a terrific track record in this field. She is fantastically experienced and shares the same passion we do for putting books we love into the hands of readers. We’re absolutely delighted to welcome her to our team.”

O’Reilly said she was “thrilled” to be joining a “vastly experienced” bookselling team. “I have known and admired Hazel for many years and am really looking forward to working with publishers to bring the authors and books we love to the readers of Dulwich. Although Village Books was around the corner when I owned Dulwich Books, Hazel and I have always got on very well. So when this opportunity came up, I grabbed it with both hands. I couldn’t stay away from the world of bookselling for too long.”

Village Books, established in 1925, was bought by Broadfoot in 1996 along with Julian Toland, who recently retired. Its other staffers include Tracey Kivland, Sophie Davidson and Hannah Swanwick.