Patterson awards grants to 73 indie bookshops

More than £130,000 has been allocated to 73 independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland in the first round of grants funded on this side of the Atlantic by author James Patterson.

Patterson has pledged to donate £250,000 to bookshops in the UK, with the money to be used to encourage children to read. It follows a similar venture in the US.

Any bookshop with a dedicated children’s book section was eligible to apply, with grants of between £250 and £5,000 awarded to each shop. In total there were 183 applicants for the first round of funding.

Among the successful bookshops [full list below] is Book-ish in Crickhowell, Wales, which will use its grant towards purchasing a camper van, which will go into rural communities. Far From the Madding Crowd in Linlithgow, Scotland, will create a “Hagrid’s Hut” children’s room in its existing hidden stockroom. The room will be a children’s space for activity and storytelling.

Meanwhile Gutter Bookshop in Ireland will use its money for new shelving and display materials, and the provision of a “Christmas ‘wow’ window" for children’s books. Newham Bookshop in London will create a reading and writing room for families in its existing stockroom, and purchase seating and replace the shop’s 35-year-old fascia. Walter Henry’s Bookshop in Bideford will spend its grant on reconfiguring the shop to open up a children’s room.

Patterson said: “I have been completely overwhelmed by just how many people have applied for the grants and impressed and enthused by the calibre of the applications. It’s been a very difficult decision process and I have worked to identify independent bookshops for whom this money may make a difference. I’m excited to follow their progress and see the proposed ideas in action.”

Tim Walker, president of The Booksellers Association, which helped to administer the grants, said: “We are very much looking forward to seeing the grant funding being implemented by the successful bookshops.  We are thrilled that so many UK and Irish indies have shown such creativity and passion in their applications. For the lucky 73 shops, the James Patterson money will make a real difference to how they reach children and encourage them to read.

“There are some really exciting projects that this money will help get off the ground, from converting a van into a mobile school bookshop to running a model train around the shop to get kids engaged.”

Walker encouraged unsuccessful bookshops to reapply for the second round of funding, which will be awarded next year.

“I am very proud to be BA president at a point when a bestselling author is making such an unequivocal statement of confidence in the independent sector, and proud of the booksellers who are proving him right,” he added.

Eligible bookshops can apply for a grant via the BA.
 
The 73 independent bookshops to be allocated grants in the first round are:

Barnett’s of Wadhurst                       Stonegate
Barton’s Bookshop                            Leatherhead
Bell Bookshop                                    Henley-on-Thames
Big Green Bookshop                         London
Blandford Books                                Broadway
Bloom and Currl                                Bristol
Book and Kitchen                              London
Book House                                       Thame
Bookcase                                           Nottingham
Book-ish                                             Crickhowell
Bookpoint                                           Dunoon
Books & Ink Bookshop                      Banbury
Books@Hoddesdon                           Hoddesdon
Burrows Bookshop                             Ely
Celtic House                                       Bowmore
Chepstow Bookshop                          Chepstow
Chorlton Bookshop                            Manchester
Clitheroe Books                                 Clitheroe
Cole’s Books                                       Bicester
Crediton Community Bookshop          Crediton
Dartmouth Commubnity Bookshop       Dartmouth
David’s Bookshop                               Letchworth
Ebb & Flo Bookshop                          Chorley
Ennis Bookshop                                 Ennis
Epping Bookshop                              Epping
Far From the Madding Crowd           Linlithgow
Fitz-Gerald’s Bookshop                     Macroom
Fordingbridge Bookshop                   Fordingbridge
Forest Bookshop                                Coleford
Forget-Me-Not                                   Culceth
Forum Books Kids                             Corbridge
Gerrards Cross Bookshop                 Gerrards Cross
GLO Bookshop                                   Motherwell
Grove Bookshop                                Ilkley
Guisborough Bookshop                     Guisborough
Gutter Bookshop Ltd                         Dublin 8
Harbour Bookshop                            Kingsbridge
Horizons Bookshop                           Burnham
Hunting Raven Books                       Frome
Jacqson Diego Story Emporium       Westcliff on Sea
Jaffe and Neale                                  Chipping Norton
Kemptown Books                              Brighton
Kett’s Books                                       Wymondham
Kirkdale Bookshop                            London
Leaf                                                     Hertford
Ledbury Books and Maps                Ledbury
Lindum Books                                    Lincoln
Little Ripon Bookshop                       Ripon
Mostly Books                                      Abingdon
Nenagh Bookshop                             Nenagh
New Hedgehog Bookshop                Penrith
Newham Bookshop                           London
Niche Comics and Bookshop            Huntingdon
Octavia’s Bookshop                           Circencester
Pages of Hackney                              London
Pritchards                                          Crosby
Rathfarnham Bookshop                   Rathfarnham
Red Lion Books                                Colchester
Rhyme & Reason Bookshop            Sheffield
Scarthin Books of Cromford             Cromford
Seaways Bookshop                          Fishguard
Siop Cwlwm                                      Oswestry
Storytellers Inc                                  St Annes on Sea
Swan Books                                      Upminster
Tales on Moon Lane                          London
The Bookshop                                   Kibworth
Torbay Bookshop                              Paington
Totnes Bookshop                              Totnes
Wallingford Bookshop                      Wallingford
Walter Henry’s Bookshop                 Bideford
Wenlock Books                                 Much Wenlock
Whitby Books                                    Whitby
Word Power Books                           Edinburgh