Wigtown’s charity-run Open Book Airbnb bookshop is 10 this month – having become an international sensation since welcoming its first holidaymakers in August 2014.
Nearly 450 guests have enjoyed the chance to take time out of their lives to have the highly unusual experience of running their own bookshop in Scotland’s National Book Town, in the far west of rural Galloway.
Indeed, the volunteer-run enterprise has become such a phenomenon that there is a two-year waiting list with would-be “tenants” eagerly awaiting each release of new dates.
What they love about the experience is that it is so much more than a holiday – with many getting drawn into the warmth of the Wigtown community.
Joyce Cochrane, of the nearby Old Bank Bookshop, meets and greets guests, shows them round the town and then offers to put their pictures up on a local Facebook group.
She says: “The Open Book has been a way of opening our doors to the world and because of that the world has been coming to Wigtown, and they love it.
“I’ll normally put a little notice up on Facebook, with a bit about the new guests, and just say ‘Wigtown weave your magic’, and it does.”
Locals drop in, as well as customers, people find they have common interests.
When one set of visitors turned out to be keen on traditional music they were soon joined by local fiddlers, guitar and banjo players for an impromptu music-making session.
The initiative was the idea of author and filmmaker Jessica Fox, an American who fell in love with Wigtown and settled, to raise the profile of Scotland’s National Book Town and bring in additional funds for Wigtown Festival Company (WFC) and the town’s annual book festival.
Jessica said: “I came up with the idea of Open Book because of my own adventure – which saw me come to Scotland’s National Book Town to stay in a bookshop. I thought others would enjoy the chance to do that too.
“It is a success because of Wigtown, the volunteers who make the guests so welcome, Rosemary and David Bythell, the owners of the building, who believed in my idea to begin with and the Wigtown Book Festival who have allowed it to thrive.”
For some time it simply covered its costs, but now contributes around £10,000 a year to WFC’s charitable activities.
This has allowed all kinds of initiatives such as one where the shop taken over by primary school children for a week.
As public sector support dwindles, and with harsh blows like this year’s loss of Baillie Gifford sponsorship, WFC has to work ever-harder to raise funds for the festival, its outreach and educational work and to pay staff.
The challenge is even greater as Galloway is one of the poorest areas of rural Scotland and the Book Town and festival initiatives were developed as a means of social and economic regeneration.
Adrian Turpin, WFC Artistic Director, said: “The Open Book has been hugely important to the profile of Scotland’s National Book Town. Its story has gone round the world. But it’s also been vital in bringing new energy and new ideas through the dozens of brilliant booksellers who come through its doors.”
A map on the wall shows where Open Book guests have come from – and it’s as far apart as Hawaii and Beijing.
Many have come to Wigtown to celebrate a special birthday or other big occasion and there was even a marriage proposal.
The latest guests, Tracy and Richard Vine, from Chelmsford first learned about The Open Book from a TV programme and loved it so much that this is their third visit.
Tracy, who was voted British Photographer of the Year, said: “We loved the idea of it – the chance to have a holiday running your own bookshop was quite unique. And there’s no strings attached, no real responsibilities, you can enjoy the time however you like,”
Richard, an IT consultant, said: “We enjoyed it so much we wanted to come back – it’s the community that makes it so special, we’ve made good friends here and just love it.”
Indeed, a number of former guests have ended up returning to Wigtown in order to join the small army of volunteers who are the backbone of the book festival.
- This year’s Wigtown Book Festival has more than 250 events and takes place from 27 September to 6 October. See wigtownbookfestival.com.
- Bookings for the Open Book are through the Airbnb website.
- Too become a volunteer register your interest here.
- Donations to support the work of WFC are welcome.
