| 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 okay, 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. |
| 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 colourful 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! |
| Ah... 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! |
| 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. |
| And books people or institutions have requested, they all go at the far end. |
| 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! |