Save Totnes Community Bookshop

Aim

Save Totnes Community Bookshop

Save Totnes Community Bookshop - The home of Castle Books is up for sale.

We need to raise £135,000 – fast – to buy our ground-floor premises as a community asset and preserve Castle Books’ amazing legacy. This will secure the future of our beloved community bookshop and outreach programmes.

For over 50 years, book lovers living in, and visiting, Totnes have made a beeline for 4 Castle Street, located a few steps from the high street in the shadow of Totnes Castle.

Our second-hand bookshop has changed hands just once in five decades, and since 2016 has been owned by a Community Interest Company (CIC). It is operated entirely through the good will of our dedicated team of volunteers who also organise regular literary events for the community. Any profits from our book sales are channelled back into the local community to support local literary causes.

With our building now up for sale, the future of our historic and much-loved shop is in jeopardy. Please help us to secure a ‘happily ever after’ for Castle Books by donating to our crowdfunder. Together we can ensure Castle Books remains a thriving literary and community hub for Totnes and our beautiful town’s many visitors – hopefully for another 50 years!

Who we are

We are Castle Books, a CIC-owned, volunteer-run and community-focused second-hand bookshop in the heart of Totnes. We have no paid staff. We sell (and buy) a wide selection of pre-loved fiction, art, history, poetry, natural history, local interest, psychology, spirituality, children’s, rare and collectable books. We also support local authors by showcasing their work. Our shop window is a delight and always full of surprises – including, on occasion, a friendly neighbourhood cat who has made our shop his second home.

See more about us here!

Community Events

Our monthly book group, held on the first Wednesday of each month, has been running for 10 years. Participants come along to share their experiences of reading, discover new authors, and enjoy the company of fellow book lovers. There is no obligation to attend each month - although some of our members have been attending for years.

First held in 2019, and still going strong, Word Stir is our monthly Poetry Open Mic (without the mic!). Anyone with a poem to share, or who simply enjoys listening to the spoken word, is welcome. Warm drinks are served – and sometimes cake too!

‘Poem in the Window’ was launched by volunteer Harula when the pandemic struck, and it was no longer possible to host events at the shop. What could she do, Harula wondered, to stay in touch with our community and continue to provide encouragement to local poets during this time? The first poem went up in September 2020, and over 70 have now been shared via the bookshop window, with the intention of publishing them as a book.

Read more about our bookshop events here!

Community Support

As a Community Interest Company, we are committed to channelling our profits back into the community to help local literary and charitable causes.

Among the regular recipients of our donations are Totnes Library, which has received over £5,000 from the shop since 2021. The library staff have used this to help install a new ‘teen hub,’ with the support of KEVICCs students, and to create a versatile and welcoming space for community groups and those seeking company and shelter during the energy and cost of living crisis. Eve Ashton, Centre Manager for Torbay Libraries commented: “We cannot thank the Totnes Community Bookshop enough for their kindness and generosity. The projects their funding has enabled have had such an impact on the thousands of people, of all ages and backgrounds who use the library.”

Another long-term beneficiary is Grove School, Totnes, whose Headteacher Hilary Priest said: “The Totnes community bookshop at Castle Street has been a godsend to us over the years helping us to buy new books for our children. The donations they give have meant that our children are really supported in their love of reading and their readiness for secondary school.”

Read more about our community support work here!

Our amazing story

The story of Castle Books began in 1969 when Belle Collard bought 4 Castle Street and opened Totnes’s first vegetarian and wholefood café. In 1972 Belle put a shelf of books in the upstairs dining area for her customers to enjoy. An advert described it as “The only restaurant in Devon where you can buy a first edition with your first course, and a print with your pudding.”

Gradually the books took over from the food and Belle began to put all her energies into buying and selling stock – so much so, that in 1975 the restaurant gave way to ‘Collards Books’, filling all three floors of the building.

As Belle got older, she found climbing the stairs increasingly demanding and in 1991, aged 72, she took the decision to limit the shop to the ground floor where she continued working two or three days a week for another 20 years, with the help of some trusted volunteers.

When Belle sadly passed away on 15 September 2013, she bequeathed her entire stock of books to her volunteers who established a community interest company (CIC) to continue the shop’s operation. Her daughter Jennie, who inherited 4 Castle Street, generously granted the newly formed CIC a 10-year lease on the ground-floor shop before selling the building – and so Castle Books was born.

Castle Books continues to be run by a 20+ team of committed volunteers and held in warm affection by both local customers and visitors to Totnes. The range, quality and affordability of the books are as notable as ever, with generous donations and regular acquisitions ensuring the stock is always fresh and relevant.

With the lease coming to an end, and the building up for sale, the shop’s future is in doubt. We believe the best way to secure it is to acquire the premises through our CIC so that it becomes a community asset, and the bookshop remains open for current and future generations of readers, writers, and book lovers to enjoy.

How can you help us?

There are two simple ways to help us reach our ambitious target in the short time we have available:

1. Donate to our fund – No donation is too small (or large!). Please don’t delay because momentum is key to our success.

2. Spread the word – Share our project on your social media pages and tell your family, friends, and colleagues to get behind us. Customers from all corners of the world seek out (and stumble upon) Castle Books for our wonderful choice of books and friendly welcome. We’re sure many of them would be willing to contribute – if only they knew about our campaign!

Whether you can support the campaign or not, we really look forward to welcoming you to Castle Books next time you are passing.

Thank you!

This project closed unsuccessfully on 12th September 2023