IS holding a second-hand book as mesmerising to a book lover as the excitement of the smell of a new book, or the sound of the first page being turned?
The slightly fusty smell of a book having spent years on a shelf; the hands that turned the pages; the reason for moving a book on is like a detective mystery for people searching for a lost title.
For Marion and John Butler, owners of Everybody Knows Books, COVID opened up an exciting stage in their lives.
As avid readers, lovers of people and wanting to extend the concept of a book shop to include live music and talks by local authors, Everybody Knows Books came into existence.
“Little Bridge Street might have seemed an unlikely place to start, but we have a committed following of bibliophiles,” Ms Butler said.
“Only the other day we had a buyer from Melbourne who walked away with at least 20 books for about $100.”
What is more exciting for both John and Marion, is their shop is moving to larger premises at 10 Sturt Street, Ballarat.
They have outgrown their current location and have been busy fitting out the new shop in readiness for its opening on Saturday, 3 June.
Mr Butler said that everything had come together serendipitously, and he and wife are excited to be moving.
“We are closing on Saturday, 27 May with a couple of events in partnership with Melbourne Art Book Fair and will be opening the following Saturday, 3 June at our new premises and we welcome all book lovers to come and check out the range of our second-hand books.”