From gay Paris to Pays de Galles: Cardiff welcomes community-focused book store

Stephen Price

A new book store has been welcomed with open arms into a Cardiff city district – championing the joy of reading and community, and the need to carve out space away from constant connection to our devices.

Lily Baron always wanted to open a bookshop, and fell in love with bookshops when she was a child – and her love has come full circle with the opening of Book Space on Cardiff’s vibrant Crwys Road.

When Lily was 19, she moved to Paris to live in a world-renowned bookshop called Shakespeare and Company. She describes it as “one of my favourite places in the world”.

Career swerve

Lily told us: “If you are lucky and they have space, you can live there for free if you open and close the shop each day and do 2 hours of shelving books.”

Returning to the UK, she began working for a charming independent bookshop in Bristol called Max Minervas.

She said: “The team there is a huge inspiration to me and I had a lovely time working there.

“After that I actually veered away from bookselling and was working as a lighting technician in film and television.

“The job was exciting and I got to work on some pretty cool things. I even went back to Paris for part of a job. The whole time though I was planning my future bookshop.

Living the dream

For a long time, Lily thought her dream to open a bookshop was just that – a dream.

She said: “I thought, maybe I will be able to do it when I am much older, if I’m lucky.

“Then there was a big gap after the last television job that I did so I decided to look into the practicalities of opening a bookshop now.

“It turned out to be very possible so now, at 25, earlier than I could have ever imagined, I am the owner of a bookshop.”

Passing through

Paris was the perfect place for Lily to immerse herself in her passion, but it was never the end goal.

She shared: “What I was doing in Paris sort of had an end date. Shakespeare and Company is the kind of place that has so many people passing through.

“That’s what I was doing, passing through. You can stay for a minimum of a week and after that if you want to stay, you ask.

“I ended up staying for a month and a half before moving on.

“I was an au pair in Italy for a month after that, I went to the Edinburgh Fringe festival as a volunteer in a venue and then went back to Paris for another month before going home to Bristol to get involved in the theatre for a while.

“If I wasn’t living my dream in my own bookshop in Cardiff, I would go back to Paris in a heartbeat. However, I am here in Cardiff and I couldn’t be happier.

“I moved to Cardiff because a lot of the TV work I was doing was in south Wales. The studios are in Newport and there was a lot of on location filming done in Cardiff.

I moved to be closer to work and fell in love with Cardiff. Actually the first job I did after moving was a short job filmed in Bristol. You couldn’t write it!”

Cymuned/Community

The location in Cardiff couldn’t have been more perfect – with its thriving community, and a revolving door of new student faces.

She shared: “I have such a wonderful community here in Cardiff, the people are most of the reason why I want to stay here forever.

“I met my partner through a dance class here (run by The Swing Project) and a lot of my friends that way too.

“I know so many creative and talented people here. I am lucky to call a lot of them my friends but I know there are so many more creatives out there.

“One of my main aims with the shop is to create a space for the community and in support of the arts. So what better place than Cardiff?”

Connection and retreat

Reading, and the act of spending time in book shops and libraries are an antidote to our screen-dominated lives, according to Lily.

And the secret is out now so let’s not lie to ourselves – adding to the book pile, collecting multiple versions of a favourite book – it’s a very specific joy all of its own.

With the rise of BookTok, and more people ditching their screens for some down time, relaxation and headspace, Book Space has its finger firmly on the pulse.

Lily said: “What’s really lovely to see is that people of all ages are visiting the shop.

“A lot of people come in and tell me how wonderful it is to have a new bookshop in the area. I’m also finding that people are saying they want to get into or get back into reading.

“There is nothing like a book. Stories are what connect us to others.

“I absolutely adore retellings of Greek mythology, these are stories that people thousands of years ago were telling each other, and I get to read them today!  I think that’s wonderful.

“Stories connect us geographically as well. I’ve been reading a lot of translated fiction recently and it is an amazing way to get an insight into the lives of people around the world.

“Aside from all of that, books are a way to have time for yourself.

“I like to read before I go to bed, sometimes I find that I’ve got sucked into something on my phone and I’m really trying to break that habit.

“When I have a good book on the go, I will reach for that over my phone as I must find out what happens next! I think a lot of people are also trying to break screen based habits.”

Neighbours

Like all good high streets, Crwys Road is a community within a community, and Book Space has benefited from its fantastic neighbours, including Tuk Tuk who Lily said “have been incredibly welcoming”.

The friendly, personal service is something Lily strives for.

She said: “We have fiction, non-fiction, a children’s section and anything you can’t see on our shelves we can usually order in quite quickly. It usually takes a couple of days for a customer order to arrive, often it arrives the day after ordering.

The shop is very much a labour of love, with all the blood, sweat and tears you’d expect when trying to make it solo while so many others retreat from the high street.

Lily told us: “I built the shop myself! I have never heard of a bookshop, or any business, opening without pure chaos in the weeks leading up to opening day, and Book Space Cardiff was no different.

“I did a bit of carpentry when I was involved in the theatre so I used those skills to build the shelves. I had a lot of help from family and friends as well, I don’t think I could have pulled it off without the support of my partner, Tom.

“The shop is still a work in progress, I recently built a display table for example. I am experimenting with different layouts of the sections.

“I think fiction will stay where it is, and the children’s section, but other than that it’s all a moveable feast. I really want the shop to be the best it can be.”

Needs met

For Lily, Book Space isn’t a rival for any other city centre book shops. Indeed, she says, there could never be enough. And it’s important to her that the store does things differently, and also gives back.

She said: “I didn’t think that Cardiff had enough bookshops which was part of the reason I wanted to open one. What I was looking for was a general independent bookshop in Cardiff where I could happily browse for hours, that ran events and that had a community focus, I couldn’t find it.

“The main thing that I am aiming for with this shop is community. I am working to establish links with local creatives in order to stock their products.

“Of course, books are the main focus but I do have a small non book section. You will find cards, wrapping paper, pens and notebooks as people are coming to expect from bookshops.

You will, very soon, also find a board game developed by a friend of mine. I’m still in the early stages of establishing this business but going forward I am hoping to stock the work of local artists and photographers amongst other things.

Turning the page

Looking to the future, Lily is excited about keeping on doing things her way, and sharing her infectious love of books, of local creatives, and of community.

She told us: “Our first event was a huge success so I’m looking to plan a lot more events in the future.

“I’ve got a couple of things in the planning stages so keep an eye out on our Facebook and Instagram for announcements. You can expect more book launches, book tours, signings, readings, poetry nights – you name it.

“I’d love to start screening bookish films in the future, so I’m looking into the logistics of that.

“I’m planning a couple of late opening dates as well, especially in the lead up to Christmas – think wine and discounts!”

“Aside from events I’m getting ready for back to school and freshers week and I’ve even started planning for the Christmas period.

“But for the time being, I’m just enjoying the now, and feeling blessed to be doing something I love in a place I’m so proud to call home.”

Book Space is located at 26a Crwys Road in Cathays, CF24 4NL.

If you’re nearby or passing, be sure to say ‘shwmae’ or ‘bonjour’ – and if not, head down to your local bookshop instead. Our high streets would be so much lesser without them.