Round Table Books moves to new site and aims to expand community work

Independent children’s bookshop Round Table Books is relocating to a different site in Brixton Village as it looks to expand its engagement with the local community. 

The bookshop champions inclusive titles and is a Community Interest Company (CIC), with co-director Meera Ghanshamdas spearheading an effort to engage with locals and host literary events.

"She’s been really going full pelt, making sure we’re serving Brixton’s local community," said Aimée Felone, co-director of the bookshop and m.d. of indie press Knights Of. "We think this new site is really going to help us to [achieve] more of that too".

Ghanshamdas’ efforts have included events at Brixton Library, working with youth groups and partnering with St Thomas’ Hospital. She has also upped the number of book launches and events in the shop and in the spaces above the market. The shop has assisted in the highly successful campaigns with Knights Of authors including Elle McNicoll and Candice Carty-Williams, and supported Faber author Akwaeke Emezi’s campaign for You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. 

Part of the reason the shop is relocating is due to the changing face of Brixton Village, and the financial struggle this brings.

The bookshop was founded by Felone and her publishing team at Knights Of in 2019, after successfully raising more than £30,000 in crowdfunding to turn its then high street pop-up into a permanent space. 

"The actual shop floor has been considerably quieter post many iterations of lockdown," Felone told The Bookseller. "Our location ultimately wasn’t working for us. Up until maybe a few weeks ago, we still got people [coming through] our doors who knew about us from the pop-up, but didn’t know we were in the market."

Round Table’s former location in Granville Arcade, towards the back of the village, was surrounded by "foodie" outlets.

"It not necessarily an area the community are wanting to come into, and I think that’s part of a bigger and wider conversation about what is happening in Brixton, in terms of the really aggressive gentrification that is going on," Felone added.

The new premises is still within the market, opposite a large meat and fruit and vegetable stall, and has already provoked interest from passing customers. It has a double fronted window which Felone plans to "really make use of", and is located on a corner of the arcade with lots of passing trade opportunities. The new shop will be operational by 12th August, with a soft launch over the weekend. The team are hoping to celebrate the new site officially at the end of the month.

"We’ve already found — even as we are painting and getting the new site ready — we’re getting a lot more of the local community who are doing their shopping looking and enquiring what we’re doing," Felone said. "It’s not just the people who are coming in for their brunch, shall we say, or coming to try out the new sushi restaurant. It’s working a lot better for us."