Happy Independent Booksellers Week!

Celebrate by visiting your local independent bookshop and harness the joy which can only be felt by browsing in a physical space with shelves and bound papery books.

Go on, sniff them too. Then with your purchase in hand, take an extra few minutes to have a chat with the bookseller.

In the UK alone 73 indie bookshops closed in 2011. The only independent bookshops which are currently doing well are children’s bookshops.

So why can’t grown–ups take the time in their day to browse in a physical space? Remember Silver Moon?

It was the biggest women’s bookshop in the UK which closed down in 2001, and then so many others around the world followed suit.

There is one left in the UK; Reading Lasses, still flying the flag in the south-western Scottish town of Wigtown.

Losing bookshops isn’t just losing a way of buying books, it’s the loss of a meeting place which fostered communities.

So the ones that are left are a precious commodity where you’ll probably find more than just books.

Some indie bookshops have cafes and noticeboards. Many have special events including author readings, storytelling nights, book-groups live music and occasionally interactive installations.

Indie bookshops all round the country are celebrating this week with random acts of book-loving. There’s even a touring Bookshop Band, who wrote this song to mark the week.

So if you don’t already know your local independent bookshop, click here to find it. And once you’ve located it, head down there and let us know what it’s like. You could even write us a guest feature for our Battle of the Bookshops series.

Which are your favourite independent booksellers? What’s the best thing about the shop?

Mekella Broomberg