As celebrations for Independent Bookshop Week get underway (17-24 June), a number of independent bookshops have received national awards this month, honouring the contribution to their local communities, their resourcefulness as small businesses and even their very premises.
 
Aimed at the small business sector and focusing on businesses often overlooked by other awards, The Small Awards 2023 recognised The Snug Bookshop and Café (Langport) as the winner in the Sole to Sole category, for the best self-employed small business owner. Established in 2018, the bookshop was created by female founder and owner Sam Carr, who decided to follow her dream to open an indie bookshop. The Snug Bookshop and Café is community lead, community-driven and a safe space for everyone.
 
Meanwhile, the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2023 recognised local independent lifestyle businesses across the whole country, and honoured the below bookshops in their Bookshop Award:
 
Berkshire – Hungerford Bookshop (Hungerford)
Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire – Chapter Two (Chesham)
Cornwall – The Edge of the World Bookshop (Penzance)
Devon – East Gate Bookshop (Totnes)
Essex - Red Lion Books (Colchester)
Gloucester & Worcester – The Cleeve Bookshop (Bishop’s Cleeve)
Hampshire & Isle Of Wight – The Imaginarium (Lymington)
Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire – Next Page Books (Hitchin)
Kent – The Classroom Children’s Bookshop (Westgate-on-Sea)
Leicester & Rutland - Quinns Bookshop (Market Harborough)
Nottingham & Derbyshire – The Book Case (Lowdham)
Norfolk – Bookbugs & Dragon Tales (Norwich)
Northamptonshire – The Reading Tree (Weedon)
Dorset & Somerset – Gullivers Bookshop (Wimborne)
Suffolk & Cambridgeshire – Dial Lane Books (Ipswich)
Surrey – Sam Beare Hospice Bookshop (Weybridge)
Sussex – Rother Books (Battle)
Warwickshire – Warwick Books (Warwick)
Wiltshire – The Corsham Bookshop (Corsham)
 
Last week, Hold Fast Bookshop (Leeds), a recently-founded bookshop on a boat, Marjorie R, was awarded Flagship of the Year 2023 by National Historic Ships UK. The awards provide an opportunity to demonstrate and celebrate the value of historic vessels to the wider public, and Marjorie R was chosen in recognition of her unique offer as an independent bookshop and community base. Built in 1946 by Harkers of Knottingley she spent her working life carrying coal in West Yorkshire. 
 
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at The Booksellers Association, said: “It’s great to see so many of our members being recognised for the brilliant work they are doing. We hope that this, coupled with all of the activity going on during Independent Bookshop Week, will remind consumers of the value of their local bookshops and encourage them to vote with their money for the kind of businesses they want to see in their community.”
 
Indie bookshops will be hosting hundreds of events and celebrations around the UK and Ireland for Independent Bookshop Week, which takes place between 17-24 June. To find out more information please see here.
 
During IBW, the general public is encouraged to visit and support their local indie, or use Bookshop.org, the online bookstore on a mission to support local, independent bookshops, who will be offering free shipping on any purchase made on 24-25 June.
 
Follow the latest developments via social media: #IndieBookshopWeek @BooksAreMyBag