'Dear Bookshop: I Love You...'

Shelf Awareness

"I love you because you are full of words and people who love words. I love you because I always feel at home in you. I love you for the company you offer. I love you because you contain multitudes. I love you because you've got room for everybody. I love you because you are a time capsule, a storehouse and a treasure chest. I love you because you are a mirror and a window. I love you because you are a magnifying glass, a microscope and a telescope.

"I love you because you contain maps and guidebooks and sign-posts. I love you because you contain prayer and poetry. I love you because you contain much that is strange and fabulous and yet you remain so familiar. I love you because you are full of questions. I love you because you are full of answers.

"I love you because you are full of voices. I love you because you are full of listeners.  I love you because you harbor surprises, and jokes, and silliness and general foolishness.  I love you because bookshops have survived book burnings and censorship, war and economic upheaval, and might survive digital technologies too. I hope so."

--Ro Cambridge's "Love letter to bookshops," published in the Nelson Mail shortly after NZ Bookshop Day