Edinburgh Community bookshop aims to do more for charity

However, calculating the sheer number of them somewhat masks the reality.

While some areas are flush with choice, in others, one could walk miles without any awareness that you are in the world’s first Unesco City of Literature.

Alasdair Corbett of Edinburgh Community Bookshop

“There wasn’t really a lot of book-buying options in Leith,” said Alasdair Corbett, the owner of the newly opened Edinburgh Community Bookshop on Great Junction Street.

“Especially around this area there was nothing. And yet there’s a really high-density of population here, so it felt like there was a need for it.”

Yet while the thousands of books lining the shelves and the smell of coffee filling the air from the small café may make it seem like a typical bookshop, there is, in fact, one big difference. Every book has been donated and each month a different charity receives most of the shop’s profits.

“About three years ago I opened up a vegan grocery store on Easter Road and that’s been going really well,” said Corbett.

“Then, at the beginning of this year, I was thinking about what to do next.

“I wanted to give something back to the local community and this was the idea I came up with: a second-hand bookshop that would operate in a similar way to a charity shop.

“So, once we’ve paid the bills – the rent, the electricity, the wages for the manager – then we donate the profits to a different local charity each month.”

This month Edinburgh Children’s Hospital will be the recipient of the shop’s takings.

Next month: the Cyrenians homelessness charity. And the month after that, Scotland’s HIV and Hepatitis C charity Waverley Care. Corbett added: “There’s so many small, local charities in Edinburgh that all do such amazing work and I wanted to find a way to try and support them all, not just one.

“A lot of them don’t have the resources to have their own charity shop and struggle for fundraising.

“There is a huge problem with budgets being cut from local government and the fact that it’s just really difficult to fundraise now because everyone is tightening their purse strings.

“So, providing the space for fundraising to happen feels really important.

“And the great thing about this is that now that it’s up and running it’s self-funding: we take out what we need to cover costs and donate the rest.”

Despite only opening on October 1, the shop has already sold about 1500 books, the profits from which accrue to around £1700 for charity.

As well as being overrun with donations – about twice as many books are stored downstairs in the basement than can be displayed on the shop floor – offers of help were equally abundant.

“I was aiming to try and get 20 volunteers and I thought that would be hard work,” said Corbett.

“But it got to the point where I actually had to close the applications.

“It’s been amazing, so many people have enquired – either because they love books or because they just wanted to give something back to the community.”

Even books that don’t sell are utilised in Corbett’s unique business model.

A partnership with retailer World of Books means that anything that goes unsold is taken away and either sold through different channels or turned into recycled paper.

“They give us 5p per kilo,” he said. “It’s not much but every little bit helps just now, doesn’t it?”

The Edinburgh Community Bookshop is located at 179-181 Great Junction Street and continues to accept donations. People-centred Edinburgh-based charities are encouraged to apply to become one of the shop’s monthly recipients of the profits.