News and views from north Bristol's urban village

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Free Clearout at Bristol's Book Barn

Spent a happy morning today with some younger clan members helping the The Book Barn (Central Trading Estate, Bath Road, BS4 3EH) clear its stock of several thousand books, thanks to a heads up via Twitter.

The Barn is a giant warehouse and is closing down. Having moved some of its more valuable stock to its North Somerset depot, the monster book seller is now literally giving away all its remaining books - as long as you're prepared to rummage.

The warehouse this morning was an incredible site. Shelves still line every wall but were 80% empty. Piles of books were strewn between every row, making some sections accessible to only the most dedicated climber. I would estimate there were five thousand books still there this morning - but that's nothing other than a wild guess.

People were helping themselves by the sack load, or car load, as some had driven into the warehouse and were piling up their vehicles with every conceivable title.

Our party came away with some classic fiction, American and European history, some pulp sci-fi paperbacks and who knows what else. It would be tempting to think that you could stock up and sell on but with so many free books now in circulation, I think eBay will be fairly full of job lots for a penny, collectible from Bristol sellers, for the next few months.

Word from the Alethian Wolf is that the give away has been extended for another week, apparently till the middle of next week, with any remaining titles being binned.











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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Shame they're binning them instead of giving them away to a worth cause.

Anonymous said...

In fairness most relevant charities seem to be in the know and were there today loading up their vans with crates of books. Apparently the giveaway is going on for a few more days yet so I doubt there'll be much left to throw out. Just the mouldy ones that were stored in a damp corner somewhere.

Anonymous said...

I wish I'd heard of this earlier; my charity (not in Bristol)is desperate for second-hand books to sell. By the time I get there, there will probably be nothing left worth having.

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