Book town

Hay Castle bookshop in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, with other bookshops on the road behind.

A book town is a town or village with many used book or antiquarian bookstores. These stores, as well as literary festivals, attract bibliophile tourists. Some book towns are members of the International Organisation of Book Towns. ^[1]

List of book towns

Bookshops seen along Main Street in Hobart, NY

Book towns with known dates of operation

• Bellprat, Spain (2008) ^[2]
• Bhilar, India (2017) ^[3]
• Blaenavon, Wales (2003–2006) ^{[4] [5]}
• Borrby, Sweden (2011) ^[6]
• Brownville, Nebraska, US (2004) ^[7]
• Clunes, Victoria, Australia (2007) ^[8]
• Dalmellington, Scotland (1997–2005) ^[9]
• Esquelbecq, France (2010) ^[10]
• Featherston, New Zealand (2015) ^[11]
• Hay-on-Wye, Wales (1962) ^{[12] [13]}
• Hobart, New York, US (2005) ^[14]
• Jimbōchō Book Town, Japan (1868)
• La Pobla de Segur, Spain (2018) ^[15]
• Langkawi International Book Village, Malaysia (1997, unknown date of closure) ^[16]
• Mellösa, Sweden (2001) ^[17]
• Montmorillon, France (2000) ^[18]
• Montolieu, France (1991)
• Paju Book City, South Korea (1989)
• Redu, Belgium (1984) ^[13]
• Sedbergh, England (2003) ^[19]
• Torup, Denmark (2006) ^[20]
• Urueña, Spain (2007) ^[21]

Book towns with unknown dates of operation

• Timbuktu, Mali ^[13]

See also

• UNESCO World Book Capital (est. 2001)

References

1. "International Organisation of Book Towns". www.booktown.net.
2. "Bellprat Vila del Llibre". www.viladelllibre.cat. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
3. Dey, Panchali. "Bhilar, India's first 'book village', welcomes you to test your reading skills". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 12 February 2023.
4. Kennedy, Maev (28 June 2003). "Books open new chapter for Plywood City". The Guardian .
5. Goodenough, Mike (17 March 2006). "Blaenafon – The Booktown Experiment Fails". TheBookGuide. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010.
6. "Borrby Bokby – Sveriges första bokby". Borrby Bokby.
7. "Welcome to Brownville Nebraska – Events, News and Info". Brownville Nebraska – Merchants of Brownvill.
8. Leggatt, Johanna (30 April 2014). "Clunes turns a page and celebrates its Booktown Festival". Weekly Times . Retrieved 21 March 2025.
9. Goodenough, Mike (11 April 2005). "Dalmellington Book Town – on the road to nowhere". TheBookGuide. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
10. "Esquelbook le site d'Esquelbecq, Village du Livre". esquelbook.com (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
11. "Booktown | Featherston, New Zealand". featherston-booktown. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
12. "Richard Booth obituary". The Guardian . 22 August 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
13. Dominic Rech (31 August 2019). "The 'mini Trump' who built a kingdom out of books". CNN . Retrieved 1 May 2024.
14. "For Those Who Love Books – Home". Hobartbookvillage.com. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
15. "Book town Festival". Ajuntament de La Pobla de Segur. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
16. Bhattacharya, Raj. "Langkawi International Book Village". Langkawi Insight. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
17. "The Book Town in Mellösa". 9 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012.
18. Alex Johnson (5 April 2018). Book Towns. Frances Lincoln (White Lion 2). p. 90. ISBN   978-1-78101-242-0.
19. "Our Book Town Story". Visit Sedbergh. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
20. "Velkommen til Torup Bogby" [Welcome to Torup Bogby]. torupbogby.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
21. "Turismo Provincia de Valladolid". Diputaciondevalladolid.es. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2013.

External links

• International Organisation of Book Towns
• Catalonia Organisation of Book Towns