Book Towns: Part II
Posted on February 29, 2016 by Abbie Lu
Here is the second part to an already awesome list of Book Towns. I hope you enjoy these ones as much as
Here are 6 more stunning little Book Towns:
St. Martins, New Brunswick
A beautiful Canadian village 40 km east of Saint John, it is situated on the Bay of Fundy. The village was founded by a Loyalists in 1783, and was originally known as Quaco. St. Martins has a population of approx. 304 (2006.) In 2007, the St. Martins Book town Initiative was formed.
Soon after that the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly officially proclaimed St. Martins as New Brunswick’s official Book town. There are now nearly a dozen booksellers located in the village.
Wigtown, Scotland
Wigtown was officially designated as Scotland’s National Book Town in 1998 and is now home to over 20 book-related businesses.
A book lovers haven; it has over a
quarter of a million books to choose from, old and new. It would be impossible to escape this town empty handed. Every year Wigtown book Festival offers more than 180 events for adults, children and young people; including literature, music, film, theatre, arts and crafts. The festival takes place for 10 days each autumn.
Fjærland, Norway
Fjærland has 300 inhabitants, and is part of Sogndal municipality. The centre in Fjærland is Mundal, about 3 km from the main road, down the fjord. Most people in Fjærland are engaged in farming and tourism.
A simple and beautiful book town; with book shops situated in old cow sheds and pigpens, there are also book shops on the ferry quay, and
in the Hotel Mundal. An absolutely picturesque little village!
Clunes, Victoria (Australia)
The charming Goldfields village of Clunes is famous for its bookshops, set amidst a heritage rich landscape. From the collectibles to the bargains, from small shops to large shops stocking thousands of titles. Clunes is located 36 km north of Ballarat.
It is a member of the International Organisations of Book Towns.
This year Clunes celebrates it’s 10 year book town anniversary.
The idea of transforming Clunes into a European-style book town was first conceived and developed by Councillor Tim Hayes, Linda Newitt, Graeme Johnston, and Tess Brady. Clunes held its first ‘Booktown for a Day’ event on 20 May 2007.
Over 50 booksellers from around Australia set up shop for the day in the town’s heritage buildings.
Clunes has a population of 1656 (2011) and more than 60 booksellers. With millions of books and 15,000 visitors, it has impressively become the largest collection of books in any regional centre of Australia.
Sedbergh, Cumbria (England)
A lovely town laced with old world atmosphere. There are only about eight bookshops in Sedbergh, but one of these books shops is enormous. Westwood Books, is a family business that moved to Sedbergh from Hay‑on‑Wye in 2005. As a former cinema it holds about 70,000 titles.
The other smaller shops sell books in the town itself and at Farfield Mill Heritage Centre, a mile and a half away. Among these are some small‑scale specialists: Avril’s Books at Farfield Mill (craft, textiles and applied arts), Sleepy Elephant (vintage children’s books, local interest and guides), Sedbergh Information and Book Centre (18 different dealers represented, with specialisms including fine art, transport and sport).
Bredevoort, Netherlands
A small medieval town in the Netherlands with a population of approx. 1600. The town was designated a book town in 1993 because of its more than 20 secondhand and antiquarian bookshops.
Every third Saturday of the month, the town square hosts a book market, attracting book dealers from all over the country to sell English, German, and Dutch books. Bredevoort is one of the founding members of the International Organisation of Book Towns, and hosts many literary events to support the local book economy.
These are just some of the most popular and well known book towns, but there are many more. My heart is so warmed by these little treasures. I hope you enjoyed learning about them as much as I did.
If I ever get that way that is the first stop for me. The art museum is second. 🙂
You won’t be disappointing. 🙂