New indie bookshop opens in Barnsley

A new independent bookshop has opened in Barnsley, run by a mother and son team who became fed up watching the big chains leave their town.

The Book Vault officially opened its doors on Monday (16th December) in Market Street. The store has around 1,000ft of space on its ground floor, with an upper level that will eventually be used for education activities, community events and writing groups.

Manager Keith Cowans said: “In Barnsley there have been bookstores in the past but the last one closed five years or more ago at least. Some years ago there was a Waterstones but that went and W H Smith has left. So there hasn’t been anything for a good few years and Barnsley is a large enough town. It should have one.”

The shop has a large area for children’s books but also stocks a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles. With Christmas looming, Cowans said it was already proving popular despite not launching with a lot of publicity.

He said: “The response has really been very positive. One of the common reactions has been ‘oh good, we need a new bookshop here’.”

Cowans, who has a background in performing arts, said he had been planning the store for months with mother Ivy Doherty and the pair had been waiting for a suitable premises to come on the market. 

Doherty used to work as a bookseller in Glasgow in the 1970s before training as a speech therapist. The duo are hoping the upper floor of the building can be used for literacy work, among other things.

Cowans said: "It was her idea. She’s the person who has been thinking about this for a while because there’s no sign of Waterstones or anything like that coming back to the town.”