Sedbergh is a book town. These are small rural towns and villages with a large concentration of second-hand and antiquarian bookshops, officially recognised by the International Organisation of Book Towns. The most famous is probably OG book town Hay-on-Wye in Wales, with its well-known book festival. But there are others too across the world: Monterregio in Italy, Borrby in Sweden, Clunes in Australia or even Kampung Buku in Malaysia, to name a few. There are also many that aren’t members of the organisation.
As you can guess, they’re intended to be book lovers’ paradise. Who wouldn’t want a day of browsing shelves and diving into the nichest of tomes, maybe interspersed with cake in cosy cafes? This is why tourists come. Not just with literary-themed tote bags and romantic ideas of a day out, but with money. They buy lots of books (and food, parking tickets, gifts, drinks), giving the book towns the chance to turn a new page.
Before becoming a book town in 1998, Wigtown in Scotland was struggling economically and had high rates of unemployment. Now it is thriving, bustling with tourists and even hosting a ten-day long book festival in the summer. Similar stories can be seen in book towns around the world.
A storybook ending, if you will. I just worry about what would happen if the influx of tourists and spending and development never stops. Would the book towns lose their charm? What could we do to protect the residents? But for now, this isn’t an issue. Let’s enjoy the success of book towns; it certainly makes a change to the absolute dearth of bookshops here in Newcastle. Happy reading!