To say that the Sanquhar Bookshop is unusual is to make an understatement. For a start, it is within what was a slaughterhouse - one that still has its original fittings. Secondly, it is so much more than a bookshop. It is a convivial meeting place for a town that has its own thriving literary scene, and here people congregate to discuss books, writing and literature. Poetry workshops are held regularly in the shop and are well supported by lovers of poetry and published poets |
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The place even looks like a bookshop should, which is unusual nowadays - shelves full of good books both old and new. Armchairs so you can relax as you make your choices. Posters on the walls, and nobody to hassle you as you browse. Janette Cowie, the owner, knows that choosing a book can be a lengthy affair, and you'll be left in peace to get on with it. But if you want advice, she'll be on hand to give it to you, as, believe me, she knows about books!
Sanquhar Bookshop, however, is not old fashioned or stuffy. Far from it. It is a vital part of the local economy, and it takes a modern slant on book selling. Sanquhar Books has a good online presence too, selling books on Amazon and eBay.
Janette has amassed a good general stock of several thousand out of print titles. She can order both new and used books on your behalf. Plus she's always interested in adding to her stock, so if you have good, interesting books you want to sell, she'll make you a fair offer. She also runs a book exchange scheme, which is proving very popular with the people of Sanquhar and its immediate area. Her stock includes biography, children's, fiction and non-fiction, history, local history, military and poetry, and she makes a point of stocking books by local authors. Though she doesn't specialise, she is interested in books about cats, poetry and - this being an agricultural area - cattle and horses, and carries a fair stock of titles.
Sanquhar is on the A76, a main road north from the English border, and she has people from all over the world popping in as they pass through. A warm welcome is given to them all, and though sometimes there are language difficulties, they leave convinced that the Scots are the friendliest people on earth!
The Royal Burgh of Sanquhar is a vibrant community, with none of the pretentiousness you seem to find in other places nowadays. It has its feet firmly in the coal mining industry that once predominated here, though there is now a good mix of interests and incomes among its inhabitants. Mind you, it brims with history, and a history trail - with plaques - takes you round the town. It sits, surrounded by hills, in Upper Nithsdale in Dumfriesshire, surely one of Scotland's loveliest counties. It's a popular area for writers to settle in (within a twenty five mile radius live many well known novelists, poets, outdoor writers, travel writers and journalists) and several book launches have taken place in her shop - book launches that are always well attended!
Sanquhar will soon have its own arts centre - no mean feat for a town of just over two and half thousand people. Janette wants to be part of it all. To her a bookshop is about more than just books. It is a place that nurtures the mind. It is a sanctuary of positivism. It is a focal point for artistic and literary endeavour. It is a place where people can meet, laugh, joke, and appreciate books varying from biography and serious novels to thrillers, science fiction and children's annuals...
Even if you don't live in Sanquhar, you can still be part of it all by subscribing to her newsletters about what she has in stock and the latest events she has planned for the shop. She will be pleased to hear from you. And if you're ever passing through the town, pay the Sanquhar Bookshop a visit. It is well sign posted, and sits in a side street full of old, stone cottages that speak of the town's long and honourable history
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