A charity bookshop in Holbeach has celebrated its first birthday and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, who opened the shop last year, was back to sign books, recite poetry and give a speech in praise of books and learning.
Benjamin said he was on stage at Warwick the night before and a boy asked what he read as a child.
“I had to reply honestly, that we had no books in the house,” he said.
Zephaniah explained that he struggled to read as a dyslexic child and his violent father offered no encouragement.
“I got in a lot of trouble as a young man,” he said.
“But when I learned to read I liberated myself.”
He continued at the bookshop’s birthday bash: “People still love books. We are all here because we love books.
“Happy birthday to us – I say us because I feel like I’m part of the family,” he said.
“We are also recycling, passing books from one generation to another,” he added, finishing with praise for the shop’s volunteers. He then recited two poems for those gathered to celebrate the event.
Charles Baker from the team of trustees also praised the volunteers and said it was “onwards and upwards” for the shop.
The bookshop’s Beverley Meekings was on Radio Lincolnshire Make a Difference programme last Wednesday talking about the shop.
The show can be heard here on the BBC Sounds website.
