Part 3 · audioscript
So Jane – you’ll be off to Denmark soon to do your work placement.
Yes, I’m really looking forward to it and I’ve just started packing up all my books to put in storage.
Well, I hope they don’t get spoilt.
It’s OK – my grandfather works in a bookshop and he told me how to pack them.
Oh, that’s helpful.
He says you have to support the spine otherwise the paper can come away from the cover.
Yeah – that’s obvious.
He also told me to pack them flat in the box not on their side – again because they can bend and if you leave them like that for, say, a year, it’s quite hard to get them back to their normal shape.
Well, it’s pretty clear that ruins them, but a lot of people just can’t be bothered to protect their books.
He always says it’s such a shame that publishers don’t use better-quality paper.
It’s the acid in the paper that causes the problem, isn’t it?
Yeah – that’s why old books go yellow. You know some of the books my grandfather’s given me are like that already.
Oh...
I should dump them really if they’re going to deteriorate further, but I’d feel bad. They’ll always remind me of him. He’s quite a collector, you know.
Well, if they’re important to you...
Yeah – I’d regret just throwing them away.
You know, maybe it’s because I was taught to treasure books... but I hate seeing students force open the pages – of paperbacks. They press so hard they end up breaking the spine.
I know, but unfortunately, paperbacks aren’t designed to last a long time and people know that. Hardbacks aren’t quite as weak.
Yeah, they’re different, I suppose. But I still don’t think people value hardbacks like they used to.
Well, they aren’t decorative, are they, like other objects. Plus, nowadays, people don’t keep them out on shelves as much as they used to.
That’s such a pity. When I visit someone – if they have, say, a colorful book on a table, it’s the first thing I’m drawn to.
I agree – and book covers can be a work of art in themselves. Some are really eye-catching.
I’ve always been taught to handle books carefully. If you watch someone take a book off a shelf, well, they usually do it wrong.
Ah, my grandfather says, you should put your hand right over the top of the book... or if you can’t do that, pull the other books on the shelf aside so that you can hold the whole cover.
When did you learn all this?
He watched me pull a heavy book off the shelf when I was small, and it fell on the floor and broke apart.
Oh dear!
I can still remember it!
You know what I really like?
What?
The smell of new books.
Me too.
My parents used to laugh at me when I was a kid because I loved putting books up to my nose. Almost as much as reading them!
New books aren’t cheap, though, are they?
I guess we’re lucky we can buy them.
My grandfather stocks second-hand books as well as new ones and they don’t smell quite as good.
I’d love to have a bookshop like your grandfather. What’s it like?
Well, it’s quite big – it’s got two floors and an attic, and he stocks all kinds of books really.
I guess he treasures things like first editions and other rare books.
Yeah – you might think he’d keep those in the attic or somewhere.
... so they’d be hidden?
Yeah. But he likes people to know that he has them. So, he puts them out in the shop but makes sure you need a ladder to get them.
Right. That would prevent any thefts!
Uhuh.
Does he stock books for children?
He does. He particularly likes to encourage kids to read; he always says that he used to sit under the stairs as a child with a pile of books and read them all.
Is that where he keeps them, then?
Not exactly – he’s got a dedicated area on the ground floor with cushions so that parents can enter with their toddlers, go there and spend some time reading to them.
Oh cool.
And then there’s a place for pushchairs by the front door. And a café if anyone needs refreshments.
That’s good to know.
As I said, it’s a big shop and there’s a storage area out the back as well.
Oh, what does he keep there? Books he wants to throw away?
He hardly ever throws anything away – he just leaves unwanted books by the front door for customers to take.
Well, that’s very nice.
Yeah – and books people or institutions have requested, they all go at the far end.
Oh.
He thinks it’s best to keep these out of the main shopping area as they’re boxed and new.
Did you get your coursebooks from him?
Naturally. He stocks books for a lot of the colleges. He used to keep these books on the first floor, but now there’s a new university in my hometown, he’s moved them downstairs to attract the students. They’re actually part of the coffee shop, on low shelves all around it.
Pretty central then. You’ll have to take me there some time!