What do we lose when we lose a bookstore?

Goodbye to one of my favourite bookstores

What do we lose when we lose a bookstore?

Today, it was announced that Wellington’s Vic Books flagship store would close after 48 years. My group chat lit up immediately with the news.

Vic Books Kelburn is a special place to a lot of people. It’s the last of two stores under the Vic Books banner.

I was heartbroken when Vic Books Pipitea closed last year. It seemed inevitable after the protestors, but the announcement was still a shock. Pipitea was where I’d helped to introduce my friend Holly Walker’s beautiful book The Whole Intimate Mess: Motherhood, Politics, and Women's Writing. I’d looked around the room and felt overcome by the love there. It was so full of tamariki and joy.

It was one of the first times I’d spoken at a thing that wasn’t my thing and I was incredibly nervous. The lovely staff there shared smiles and shoulder squeezes and told me I’d be fine. I felt proud to stand by my friend and her book that had a message that was as important then as it is today.

I went to many more book launches at Pipitea and always delighted in the birth of a new book into the world. Books that would change lives, books that would make you weep, books that would make you cry laughing. Books that mattered.

During the violent protests at Parliament I felt so protective of Pipitea and the staff there. I was distraught watching that beautiful place that held so many memories, be smashed up and vandalised. I was so afraid for the staff - physically and emotionally.

Many of us also knew that the protests coincided with the entire student population arriving on campus. A time they would usually get their textbooks. It was Vic Books’ Christmas rush basically. Classes had to move online to protect students. Public servants couldn’t work because it was so unsafe. It was the beginning of the end.

When they had to close, losing so much, I wondered at how much we were all losing.

When they closed, I cried. But thought - at least we have Vic Books Kelburn. That store was a beating heart for my friends and I. We would go there with our kids to listen to Baz read on Saturdays. We would dump all our tamariki in front of him and they’d sit awed by him. He would use a thousand different voices, wave his arms about - and we would drank coffee and gossip, celebrate and commiserate.

“Honestly, discovering Saturdays at Vic Books revolutionised weekend parenting for me. Being able to meet a friend for a whole hour and talk over coffee while my child was occupied was a life saver”. - The group chat.

I shed many tears in that cafe as my son listened to yet another kiwi-related book or another rendition of Mog. My friends hugged me as I wept, talking about how hard I was finding parenting. How I didn’t know how to meet the needs of my kids without sleeping. How I wasn’t the mother I wanted to be. We shared ideas, advice, solidarity…

We talked about everything in that little cafe as our kids yelled out books for Baz to read. We talked about our parents, our lovers, our friends, our neighbours…Nothing was off limits as we sipped our coffee. We would be mid-conversation and have to stop and chase a child, our words would hang in the air and were sometimes never caught - but it didn’t matter.

Our kids ran in circles around us. We felt like here we were welcome. We were trying to navigate the world as new parents so that mattered. That mattered so much. We met newer parents, gave support and advice, we chatted to strangers who became friends. It was a hub for parents as well as students, book lovers, anyone who liked donuts…

“Storytime kept me sane for all of 2017 and 2018” - The group chat.

They’re right. Sometimes Storytime was the only thing I left the house for. When I was suffering from PND it was a reason to get out of the same clothes I’d worn for days. It was a place where you’d always get a good coffee and a big hug. Sometimes your only social interaction, your only break from the intensity of new parenting.

My eldest used to call it Vicks. To the point where my husband thought Vick was a person…All of these little things, woven into the DNA of our experience as parents in this little moment in time…Vic Books is tattooed on my heart.

Selling books at Verb Festival

Over the years Vic Books became a welcome and consistent presence at festivals I read and spoke at. The lovely staff were sometimes the only familiar face when I walked in. A reminder I’d be fine, despite my stage fright. Afterward, they always offered enthusiastic praise, even if I’d spoken too fast or fumbled my words.

They championed my three books and the books of countless other New Zealand authors. They were community-driven, always donating to local causes and charities.

What have we lost by their closure?

As an author, bookstores are my livelihood. I am forever grateful for their orders of my books, for putting them in windows, for writing reviews…without them, many of us with niche books might just struggle to ever sell them.

“I went to buy a baby sleep book and found yours instead” - a reader.

An algorithm will recommend you James Patterson as they order his books by the millions. A store owner will recommend an actually good book, tailored to what you need. A book that might inspire you, might delight you, might challenge you - all the things a good book should do.

My son falling in love with a book.

Every bookstore has a story, is special to someone - to many. Every bookstore has launched a career, has helped many people pay their rent, has encouraged us to expand our horizons, has educated us…

And we’re losing them.

Still Books in Blenheim closed after nearly three decades last year. Owner Colin Payne said to a Stuff reporter, “It is not as busy, and during lockdown people bought stuff online and when they do that it's hard to get them back...”. Beth’s Books in Feilding closed in 2021, Scribes in Dunedin shut its doors the same year.

Booksellers NZ said in 2021 a new bookstore on average is opening every three months. But anecdotally, all I hear is that times are tough. That it’s impossible to compete with Jeff Bezos’ Book Depository. That people keep buying online.

How do we change it? How do we keep these amazing places? I don’t have the answers. But books always do….So you better go out and buy one.

Thank you for the memories Vic Books. Buy a book as a thank you here.