The Bookery

The Bookery is a community-owned, not-for-profit independent bookshop on the High Street of Crediton, Devon, in the United Kingdom. It began life as Crediton Bookshop, which became community owned in 2013 and now has more than 450 shareholders. In 2016 the shop moved into a larger Grade II listed building that remains its current home, and it adopted the name The Bookery. The shop sells books both in its physical High Street store and online nationwide, and it also operates a Bookshop.org storefront that supports indie bookshops. The Bookery describes itself as sitting within a special category of independent bookshops: those that are nonprofit and collectively owned. Its stated mission is to create an environment for enterprising, resilient and creative communities inspired by books and stories. It funds pioneering projects supporting literacy, community well-being and access to cultural opportunities for all through sales from its bookshop and website, summarised by the slogan 'buy books, grow community' and the hashtag #BuyBooksDoGood. Beyond retail, The Bookery runs a varied programme of activity. It hosts author events and book-related gatherings, including appearances by writers such as Ann Cleeves and quiz nights themed around authors like Sarah J. Maas. It works with schools to promote Reading for Pleasure, engage targeted readers and provide services including author visits, book fairs and library rejuvenation, and it offers curated book bundles for schools at different reading ages. It also conducts outreach with care homes and not-for-profit organisations tackling community needs, and it provides a shared workspace, the Work Hub, at the shop. The shop highlights a wide range of local Devon titles and signed copies, and it invites customers to contact it directly for particular books. As a community-owned entity, The Bookery is not a listed public company; it is owned by its shareholder community and operates as a private, not-for-profit concern. Its identity is closely tied to its Devon location and to the idea that every book purchased makes a difference to the communities it serves.

The Bookery traces its origins to Crediton Bookshop, a bookshop in Crediton, Devon. According to the shop's own account, Crediton Bookshop became community owned in 2013 and now has over 450 shareholders. This transition placed the business in the category of nonprofit, collectively owned independent bookshops rather than conventional privately held retail. In 2016 the shop moved to a larger Grade II listed building that became its current home, and it took on the name The Bookery. The move to larger premises supported the expansion of its activities beyond straightforward bookselling. The shop describes itself as a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to create an environment for enterprising, resilient and creative communities inspired by books and stories. Over time The Bookery developed a model in which sales from its High Street shop and website fund pioneering projects supporting literacy, community well-being and access to cultural opportunities for all. Its activities have grown to include a programme of author events and book-related gatherings, work with schools to promote Reading for Pleasure and provide services such as author visits, book fairs and library rejuvenation, outreach with care homes and not-for-profit organisations, and a shared workspace known as the Work Hub. The shop also sells online nationwide and maintains a Bookshop.org storefront that supports indie bookshops. Its identity is captured by the slogan 'buy books, grow community' and the hashtag #BuyBooksDoGood.

• 2016

  The shop moves to a larger Grade II listed building and adopts the name The Bookery.

• 2013

  Crediton Bookshop becomes community owned, with over 450 shareholders.

Community-owned, not-for-profit independent bookshop combining retail with literacy, well-being and cultural access projects under the slogan 'buy books, grow community'.

• Books

• Signed copies

• Local Devon titles

• School book bundles (Picture Books age 4+, First Chapter Books age 7+, Confident reader age 8+)

• Book event tickets

1. 1The Bookery – Buy Books. Do Good.thebookery.org.uk
2. 2About Us – The Bookerythebookery.org.uk
3. 3The Bookery – Wikidatawikidata.org