Independent Bookshop Week 2025 On Track To Break Record with 100 Events Confirmed Amidst Strong Growth in Participating Independent Bookshops

- Independent Bookshop Week 2025 will feature 100 events across 60 bookshops, with participation rising to a record 739 independent stores nationwide.
- Bestselling authors Philip Pullman, Mike Gayle, Elif Shafak, and L. D. Lapinski will headline events throughout the week.
- From cookery book clubs and Windrush Day celebrations to Refugee Week poetry evenings, city music history tours, and cinema screenings, bookshops are delivering bold, community-first programming.

With a month to go until Independent Bookshop Week 2025 (Saturday 14 June to Saturday 21 June), the Booksellers Association is delighted to announce 100 events and counting have been confirmed across the UK from 60 bookshops - putting this year’s campaign on track to beat the 2023 campaign record of over 150.
 
This milestone comes against a backdrop of continued growth, with 739 independent bookshops participating this year – up from 716 in 2024, and well above 2019’s total of 420 – making Independent Bookshop Week 2025 the biggest yet.
 
Founded in 2006, Independent Bookshop Week is a flagship event in the Books Are My Bag calendar of campaigns championing bookshops. It is a focal point of the Booksellers Association’s wider mission to celebrate, advocate for, and support bookshops, highlighting their unique cultural, economic, and community value. Each Independent Bookshop Week, independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland host a diverse plethora of events that exemplify these values.
 
In February, the Booksellers Association – alongside headline sponsor Hachette UK – announced this year’s author ambassadors: broadcaster and author Lorraine Kelly (The Island Swimmer, 13 March 2025), multiple Sunday Times bestseller Mike Gayle (Hope Street, 5 June 2025), and international bestseller L. D. Lapinski (Kickflip Vol. 1, 19 June 2025). Poet Michael Pedersen – current Edinburgh Makar and winner of the 2023 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards for The Cat Prince & Other Poems – has also written an exclusive poem for the celebration.
 
More than places to buy books, independent bookshops serve as creative and social hubs,hosting events this Independent Bookshop Week and beyond that connect people, celebrate stories, and support meaningful causes. From author events and school visits, to poetry evenings supporting Refugee Week, creative workshops with multimedia talent, themed walking tours, book clubs celebrating Windrush Day and Cookery, and partnerships with local organisations, independent bookshops are making literature a dynamic, inclusive, and community-rooted experience.
 
This reflects findings from a Booksellers Association report commissioned by Arts Council England on The Cultural Role and Value of England’s Independent Bookshops, which revealed that 92% of independent bookshops run community events and over half support charities and local initiatives. While this research currently focuses on England, the Booksellers Association is working on equivalent reports and findings for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in 2025 to further illustrate the impact of bookshops across all nations of the UK.
 
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association, said: “We are thrilled to see Independent Bookshop Week 2025 set to host a record-breaking 200 events in the UK, reflecting the vital and growing importance of independent bookshops in our communities. This year’s programme of author events, school visits, guest bookselling, book clubs, and cultural initiatives truly highlights the unique value independent bookshops offer all year round – from fostering creativity and connecting people with literature, to supporting local causes and enriching community life. We encourage everyone to celebrate and support their local independent bookshops during Independent Bookshop Week and beyond.”
 
Katie Espiner, CEO of Adult Trade Divisions at Hachette UK, said: "We are so proud to sponsor this important initiative and continue our support of all the brilliant independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland, who unite communities through the power of books. Once again, Independent Bookshop Week is going to be a true celebration of books and reading, of human connection through creativity, and that feels like a very urgent and positive thing right now."
 
A selection of this year’s standout events can be found below -
 
AUTHOR EVENTS & SCHOOL VISITS

This year’s vibrant schedule includes appearances by Independent Bookshop Week ambassadors:

- Mike Gayle will appear in conversation at Curious Cat Bookshop (Cheshire).
- L. D. Lapinski will visit schools with The Wee Bookshop (Dollar) and Far From The Madding Crowd (Linlithgow).
- Michael Pedersen will take part in events with Topping & Company Booksellers (Edinburgh), The Wee Bookshop (Dollar), and Five Leaves (Nottingham), in partnership with Nottingham Poetry Festival.

Other highlights include:

- Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award recipient Philip Pullman, who recently announced the final installment in The Book of Dust trilogy The Rose Field, in conversation at Daunt Books (Oxford).
- International bestseller and Booker, Costa, and Women’s Prize shortlisted author Elif Shafak speaking at Maldon United Reformed Church, hosted by Maldon Bookshop (Maldon).
- Yoto Carnegie Award winner and Indie Book Award 2025 shortlisted author Katya Balen will run school events with Pickled Pepper Books (Crouch End, London).
- The Secret Bookshelf (Carrickfergus), as part of inargual Louis MacNeice Literary Festival, will host Leo Vardiashvili in conversation with Dr Frank Ferguson; Liz Weir and friends, storytelling, and a signing with local author Byddi Lee.  

GUEST BOOKSELLING & BIG BOOK CLUB

Back by popular demand are two Independent Bookshop Week staples:
 
Guest Bookselling, where local authors take over the tills at one of their favourite independent bookshops.

Participating independent bookshops include:

- Afrori Books (Brighton), hosting June Indie Book of the Month No Small Things author Orlaine McDonald. Owner Carolynn Bain also recently won ‘Individual Bookseller of the Year’ at the British Book Awards.
- Truman Books (Leeds) will host Finding Home co-writer Howard Gardner in celebration of Windrush Day.
- North Books (Hay-on-Wye) will host Aina Marti-Balcells, publisher at Héloïse Press, specialising in contemporary female narrative.

Big Book Club, where independent bookshops unite to host the biggest book club night of the year.

Highlights include:

- Veranda Books (West London), a translation-specialist bookshop, will hold a “Translated Fiction Day” club featuring global perspectives.
- The Kitchen Table (Dorset), a cookery bookshop, will host a virtual club where participants bring a dish from a selected cookbook to discuss and eat together.
- The Cobham Bookshop (Cobham)’s legendary “Bryony’s Choice” book club will discuss The Coast Road by Alan Murrin, celebrating manager Bryony’s 25 years at the shop.  

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Independent bookshops will also be hosting a diverse range of creative industires events – bringing the UK’s world-leading creative industries to shopping destinations nationwide and celebrating reading for pleasure in all its forms.

- The Heath Bookshop (Birmingham), named ‘Best Independent Bookshop of the Year’ at the British Book Awards, will present a screening of Orlando (based on the novel by Virginia Woolf).
- Chorleywood Bookshop (Rickmansworth) will welcome the beloved Tiger Who Came to Tea in the form of an official costume character.
- La Biblioteka (Sheffield) will host a walking tour of the city’s music history hotspots with Studio Electrophonique author Jamie Taylor.
- Niche Comics (Huntingdon) will run a children’s illustration workshop with CBBC’s Super Happy Magic Forest creator Matty Long.
- Script Haven (Worcester) will host a poetry evening in support of Refugee Week and Worcester Welcomes, featuring former Worcestershire Poet Laureate Ada Couper (2021–2022).