Independent Bookshop Week (IBW) gears up for its annual celebration of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland, taking place June 15-22, 2024. The Booksellers Association (BA) has just unveiled this year’s official campaign spokespeople and outlined the initial plans for the event, with Hachette UK returning as the headline sponsor.
IBW 2024 will feature official ambassadors including the renowned broadcaster and author Rev Richard Coles, celebrated journalist Clive Myrie, and award-winning novelist Kiran Millwood Hargrave. These ambassadors will be actively participating in IBW, attending bookshop events across the UK. Additional details on venues are soon to be announced.
With nearly 700 bookshops already on board, IBW 2024 promises an engaging agenda. The sixth edition of the successful “High Five for Bookshops” program, supported by National Book Tokens, is set to make a welcome return. This national giveaway provides indie bookshops with 100 vouchers featuring unique codes, allowing customers to claim a £5/€5 National Book Tokens e-Gift card for in-store purchases.
Introducing a new initiative this year, the Big Book Club strand of IBW aims to celebrate the vital role of independent bookstores in fostering a sense of community through a shared passion for reading. On Wednesday, June 19, indie bookshops across the UK and Ireland will host simultaneous book club evenings as part of the Big Book Club initiative. Participating bookshops confirmed so far include: The Beckenham Bookshop, Booka Bookshop (Bridgnorth), Booka Bookshop (Oswestry), Book-ish (Abergavenny), Book-ish (Crickhowell), Hungerford Bookshop, Jaffé & Neale, The Mainstreet Trading Company, and Wantage Bookshop.
Rev Richard Coles, said: “Booksellers around the market towns and cathedral cities of the UK have been so very genial and welcoming to me as I’ve spent many an enjoyable day visiting them to talk about Canon Daniel Clement, parish murders and dachshunds. I wouldn’t be in the wonderful position that I now find myself in – crime writer! – without their considerable efforts and support, so I am hugely grateful. It all began for me with an independent bookseller, The Oundle Bookshop, in Northamptonshire where, when I was 8 years old, my grandfather bought me my first proper book – The Complete Sherlock Holmes Short Stories – and without knowing it set me on this gilded path.”
David Shelley, CEO Hachette UK, said: “We’re proud to continue our headline sponsorship of Independent Bookshop Week, an integral part of our happy and important partnership with the Booksellers Association. Independent bookshops are the beating heart of our industry, and this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the vital work that they do, up and down the UK and Ireland, getting our author’s books into the hands of readers with such passion and dedication.”
Follow the latest developments via social media: #IndieBookshopWeek @BooksAreMyBag.
