Dating back at least 50 years, The Haslemere Bookshop is a familiar sight when walking down the local high street. Loved by many, the shop gives locals a sense of community and warmth. It describes itself as a traditional bookshop wishing to retain its charm whilst also modernising to younger generations. The shop caters for all bookish budgets with the second-hand section upstairs as well as the current popular reads downstairs. 

We got to speak to manager Emily last week about the current goings on in store and future plans. Emily has managed the shop for over 10 years and currently manages 5 other booksellers. She described the team environment as organic and friendly, a perfectly welcoming place to pop in when in town. 

An important ethos of the bookshop is to make sure everyone is welcome, so customers will always find something on the shelves that they can relate to. At This Is Haslemere, we understand the importance of community so it was delightful to hear how important it is to the bookstore too.

One of the things we love most about the team at The Haslemere Bookshop though is their community spirit and generosity. They never cease to amaze us with the kindness and thoughtfulness that they show to all those living in Haslemere. For a start, they have the 'pay it forward' book scheme, whereby generous customers can donate so that someone else can enjoy money off their purchase or even a complimentary book. 

Customers can further save by signing up to the loyalty scheme to redeem a £5 book token - or they can donate their loyalty points, so that a local school receives £10 to spend on books. The business also donates book tokens to the Haslemere Food Bank at Christmas to make sure every child has an opportunity to visit the shop and experiences its joys. To give you an idea of the scale of the donations to the Food Bank each Christmas, over £3000 has been donated in book tokens in the last 24 months alone.

That sense of community is further seen by the two running book clubs the shop currently has to offer. Celebrating 10 years, the Fiction book club runs on a Tuesday at 2:30pm every 6 weeks. The shop also has a Sci-Fi and Fantasy club running on a Thursday 8pm every 6 weeks. Whilst this is currently fully booked, there are details for the waiting list on their website. Check the website for details.

If you want to check out the store online for yourself, you can do so @thehaslemerebookshop on Instagram or use their website.