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A New Chapter: A Bookstore Moves by the Hands of the Community
While many bookstores have closed down with the adoption of digital alternatives and online bookstores like Amazon, a very special bookstore in Southampton, England received both the financial and physical support at the hands of its community to move into a new space of its own.
Founded in 1977, October Books is moving down the road into an old bank building because its community crowdfunded $400,000 to buy the space. Even more impressive was the community’s human chain, where over 200 volunteers came out to create a human conveyor belt in order to move all the books from the old location to the new location, one by one. Local cafes donated coffee as the crowd created a 500-foot long assembly line.
As people passed by and questioned what was happening, they began to join in to help! Together, they moved more than 2,000 books and played a part in preserving a bit of history, and welcoming in a new chapter for the bookstore’s future.
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Daniella Soloway
