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| The familiar frontage - it is what it says on the fascia board |
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| Thanks all round - but especially to Newham Bookshop |
The bookshop emerged, in March 1978, from an initiative
begun five years previously in an attempt to confront low educational
achievement in Newham. 1973 saw the establishment of Newham Education Concern
(slogan, "stick our NECs out"), in Plaistow, by some concerned
parents.
Within two years the pressure group had established the
Parents Centre, which thrived for over 20 years, promoting educational advancement
in the borough. One of the Parents'
Centre's offshoots was a small publishing arm, which produced a number of fine
historic, autobiographic and photo-books celebrating the borough - including
those shown in the picture, below.
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| Some of the Parents' Centre's impressive publications |
Before the Centre was established, local parents could not
get hold of good educational materials to help their kids at school, so the
idea of an Education Shop emerged. It
was initially located in an old Eel and Pie shop in Prince Regents Lane.
One of the pressure group's founders, and for the last 30
years Secretary of the London Voluntary Sector Training Consortium, Ray
Phillips, said this of the present shop's origins:
When we moved to the Boleyn in 1978, we set up a separate company to develop a proper Education Shop for the sale of play materials and books. Later, we were also able to refurbish the double-fronted bookshop, with the now familiar space split between children's and adult ranges. After a difficult start, we never looked back.
Ray wrote that in a booklet to celebrate the shop's silver
anniversary in 2003. And the final sentence could not be truer, today.
The shop is community-owned and the management committee
consists of volunteers. The overall manager, Vivian Archer, joined the shop 30
years ago. She is ably assisted by another Forest Gate stalwart, John Newman, who manages the children's section. CJ Gajjar, was in charge of that when we visited.
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| CJ with just some of the extensive children's stock |
Vivian's background is in drama. She studied at the Central School for Speech
and Drama in the late 60's, where she made a series of acquaintances - like the
Redgraves, Ken Loach and others - who spurred her on. She spent 10 years as a working
actor, with roles on both the stage and TV, before moving to the more settling
world of bookshop management.
Her first experience was in Hackney, before moving to Newham
in the 1980's. She has built up a network of influential literary supporters,
including poets John Hegley and Benjamin Zephaniah (who wrote a poem to
celebrate their silver jubilee) - and one-time children's laureate, poet and
Radio 4 stalwart, Michael Rosen.
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| Benjamin Zephaniah - an early and loyal supporter |
Michael, who will be appearing in one of the events being
hosted to celebrate 40 glorious years (see footnote), had this to say about the
shop in 2003:
Newham Bookshop is simply the best bookshop I know. In the years I've had something to do with it, I've seen the way in which it is a place that reaches out to the people who live, work and study nearby. With meetings, signings and readings, the bookshop announces to the community that it is interested in ideas, people, history, education and life itself....
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| In Michael Rosen's view: "Newham Bookshop is simply the best bookshop I know" |
It is a showcase for what a bookshop should be about and I can only wish that many other booksellers ... would come and see what is possible, when you treat the people ... with respect and interest. May the bookshop live on and all who work in it!"
Newham Bookshop's survival has been remarkable, and down to
the dedicated staff and volunteers who work for and with it. Consider the challenges it has faced over the
last 20 years alone.
Until 1997 a scheme known as the Net Book Agreement (NBA)
was in operation - which meant that all new books had to be sold at a
publisher's fixed price in every shop and outlet. There was a level playing
field in the industry , designed to protect small independents, like Newham
Bookshop.
The scrapping of the NBA meant a free-for all in the book market.
It saw the emergence of large chains such as Waterstones, who, along with
established sellers like WH Smith, could
now bulk purchase, and sell new and popular books at discount.
Supermarkets jumped on the bandwagon too and handpicked
pot-boilers and books from popular authors, bulk purchased and sold them -
often as lost leads - at huge discounts, sometimes far below the price shops
like Newham Bookshop could even purchase them at.
Unlike these 'pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap' competitors, Newham Bookshop stocks a huge range of books
on politics, history, literature and local interest and the children's bookshop
is a must for relatives looking for books and educational toys and aids for the
very young.
Vivian says that you can almost track the different waves of
immigration coming into Newham, by the sales of the various bi-lingual
dictionaries and phrasebooks sold at the store.
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| Vivian, surrounded by some of the shop's many thousands of books |
Having ridden the storm of seeing the sale of best-sellers
effectively taken away from them, independents, like the Newham shop began to
face two more massive challenges as the 21st century changed people's leisure
and shopping habits.
Kindles emerged a decade ago
- 'to make hard copies of books and their retailers redundant'. Newham
Bookshop did not bow to the proclaimed inevitable, but persevered. The result has seen "the dead Kindle in
the cupboard" emerge, as readers have reverted to the hard copy book.
Kindle's manufacturer, Amazon, have not given up,
however. They are now the dominant force
in the retail book market, and almost all the competition is suffering badly.
This fateful combination of negative book trade factors has
had a dramatic effect. Over 550 -almost
half - of small UK bookstores have closed in the last decade.
On top of these factors , Newham Bookshop has had to
overcome its own very local difficulty recently.
Twenty times a year the shop could count on a bumper sales
day, as West Ham supporters, from near and far would descend on the shop on
match-days, snaffling up some of the wide range of club-related books on sale -
or perhaps to meet an old crowd favourite player who would cheerfully sign
their autobiographies in the shop.
No more. West Ham's move from the Boleyn to the London
Stadium in the Olympic Park has cut off that regular piece of passing trade.
None of those associated with the new stadium will enable fans to buy what they
want from the Bookshop there.
Despite the very formidable obstacles Newham Bookshop has
encountered, particularly over the last two decades, the shop soldiers on. And this is in no small part to the goodwill
and contacts that Vivian has built up over that period.
So, on World Book Day, the shop will receive visits from
possibly hundreds of local school children, ready to exchange the tokens they
get for the occasion for books in the shop.
Last year they had 1800 visitors on the day. And all because the
Bookshop has cultivated great relationships with schools in Newham, Redbridge
and Barking over the years - bringing authors to schools and helping with
school libraries and book sales.
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| CJ welcomes you to World Book Day |
Vivian has matched her great contacts in the book trade with
one of Forest Gate's quirkiest ventures, to provide great evenings of local
entertainment and education. The, now
regular, book events at the Wanstead Tap are almost guaranteed sell outs and
big local crowd pleasers.
It is a real win:win:win:win combination. Authors love
coming to the relaxed, invariably packed venue, and meet engaged audiences at
the Tap, Forest Gate comes out in force for the events, Dan Clapton entertains,
gets alcohol sales and cements his place on the map as the area's best events
venue and the Bookshop gets sales. An almost ideal combination. And as Dan says - "Viv lines 'em up, I
say 'yes' and a great evening is had by all!' See footnote for details of
forthcoming events.
Vivian's car is like a travelling bookstore. In addition to author's events at the Tap,
she regularly services events at Conway Hall, and for 5x15 sessions in Notting
Hill, as well as other venues, across London.
As Michael Rosen has said, much of Newham Bookshop's success
is down to its relationship with the communities it serves. So, the bookshop
plays an active part in trying to retain the now-famous World Cup statue in its
original home - just opposite the shop - rather than have it moved to the
soulless London Stadium.
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| Of the community - campaigning for the community in the fight to keep this landmark local |
Vivian is a trustee of a charity set up in honour of East End
author, Gilda O'Neil, and as such is promoting Holding the Baby - sponsored by
the charity, a travelling exhibition, around Newham's libraries sharing
memories of childcare and parenting in the East End in the 1950's. It is
launched today (1 March 2018 at 5.30 in Plaistow library) and will tour the
borough's libraries for a year.
Vivian used her contacts and entrepreneurial skills to
persuade publishers and authors to donated signed copies of their books to her,
to auction, with the proceeds going to the survivors of Grenfell Towers. Over £7,000 has been raised to date.
So, Newham Bookshop is in the community, and of the
communities it serves. And it is this formula that has ensured its success
against very formidable obstacles. Long
may it continue to prosper - for all of our sakes!
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| A busy shop window, for a busy shop |
Footnotes
1.Anniversary celebrations. Newham Bookshop has arranged a series of exciting events at the Wanstead Tap, to celebrate its anniversary. Over the coming months renowned authors such as Misha Glenny (of McMafia fame), Michael Rosen, Stuart Cosgrove and Helen Pankhurst, will be appearing, together with important evenings with authors discussing books on autism and others on the future of the Labour Party.For contact details see below.
1.Anniversary celebrations. Newham Bookshop has arranged a series of exciting events at the Wanstead Tap, to celebrate its anniversary. Over the coming months renowned authors such as Misha Glenny (of McMafia fame), Michael Rosen, Stuart Cosgrove and Helen Pankhurst, will be appearing, together with important evenings with authors discussing books on autism and others on the future of the Labour Party.For contact details see below.
2. Contact details Newham Bookshop is based at 745-747 Barking Road E13 9ER. Opening hours: Tuesday - Friday 9.30 - 5pm, Saturday 10 am - 5pm. Phone: 020 8552 9993.
