Quaker-run store wins ‘Bookshop of the Year’

Freya Blyth's bookshop has won one award and been nominated for another

A bookshop in Wales started by a young Friend has won TikTok’s ‘Indie Bookshop of the Year’ award. This was the second award nomination for Bookshop by the Sea in Aberystwyth this year. 

Owner Freya Blyth, from Aberystwyth Meeting, told the Friend that the bookshop was also nominated at The British Book Awards 2024 – aka ‘the Nibbies’ – two months ago for the ‘Independent Bookshop of the Year in Wales’ category. 

‘We also won a Rising Star award from The Bookseller last week, and last year we won an award for sustainability,’ she said. ‘It‘s really important that our ethics are really strong and our tagline is “community, connection, conscience”. We are careful where we source our books and have loads of events, bringing the community together. We also have a Quaker worship group every Wednesday evening called “Soup and Stillness”. People can also order books from our website, which includes next day delivery as a more ethical alternative to Amazon.’

The bookshop opened in 2022 after Freya started a pop-up shop during lockdown in 2020 which proved popular with customers. ‘When Covid hit, all the libraries were shut, so I decided to open a pop-up bookshop because I could see one of the really big needs was community.’ 

After the pop-up was flooded, Freya opened another in a more permanent venue. ‘The community kept asking, “When are you reopening?” I realised how exciting it is to create a hub for literacy and creative writing.’

Freya called the TikTok award, announced on 25 July, ‘an honour and wonderful opportunity to bring more people to our community’.

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