Desperate search for new town centre premises for High Barnet’s free book shop which distributes unwanted books

Yet another smiling recipient…but the days are numbered at High Barnet’s free book shop which is desperately looking for new premises as it is under notice to leave The Spires shopping centre.

Unless another vacant shop or a community space can be found by Saturday 12 April the Global Education Trust will have to close its doors much to the disappointment of the 20 or so volunteers who hand out anything up to 100 free books a day.

Dean Masters (above) was delighted to find a free copy of a book by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus – a reminder of his younger days when he regularly played golf himself.

Book shop manager Jackie O’Brien (right) – seen with volunteer Emma Newby – says that she and her team of assistants are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that the trust can find alternative premises somewhere in High Barnet town centre.

“We exist on donations and are run entirely by volunteers, so we can’t afford to pay rent.

“We rely entirely on the generosity of landlords to let us use an empty shop or vacant premises where we can display our books.

“We have been so lucky to have had nearly a year at The Spires and the success of what we have achieved speaks for itself.”

At anyone time the trust is operating around 20 free books around the country and they all distribute unwanted books which would otherwise have been pulped or gone to landfill.

Ms O’Brien said that on most days the shop in The Spires has been giving away anything from 50 to 100 books, all of which have been donated to the trust.

Usually, the shop attracts at least 50 customers a day, but it can be double that at weekends and school holidays.

When it opened in May last year the trust stocked the shop with books from its central warehouse, but the organisers predicted the shop would soon become self-supporting because of fresh donations of books from within the community.

“What is so rewarding about volunteering at the shop is to see how much we are appreciated by local children who can hardly believe that they can take away free up to three books.

“Some of the children are really excited about coming to the shop. Perhaps they are on the hunt for a Roald Dahl or Jacqueline Wilson book

“It is then that we realise what it means to them, because some youngsters come back and donate to us all the books they have grown out of.

“Because all of the stock is donated lots of it is pretty dated or out of print and when older customers come in, they can’t believe their good fortune in finding a book they have always wanted.”

The free book shop is under notice to quit because the unit it is using – formerly a Costa coffee shop – is to be re-opened as a Greek cafe.

Fresh donations of books are no longer being accepted and unless another vacant shop or perhaps unused community space can be found, the shop will close on 12 April allowing a week to shift the stock to the Global Education Trust’s warehouse before vacating the premises on 19 April.

“Unfortunately, we have been told by The Spires that they have no space for us and our only hope is that a landlord might come forward and offer us another temporary home.

“We have asked the Chipping Barnet Town Team to help us relocate so perhaps we might be lucky,” said Ms O’Brien.