Jump into romance, find intrigue in mystery or escape with adventure. It is all on offer on the bustling shelves of this “hidden gem” of a book shop in Ripon.

The Little Ripon Bookshop, founded by husband and wife team Gill and Simon Edwards, is part of the independent book shops resurgence.

While the online behemoths find it easy to offer cut-price books, more and more people have been flocking to the likes of Gill and Simon’s shop.

The shelves are stacked with a mix of new books and classics.

It may have been a daunting task in the beginning and during the coronavirus lockdown, but the Little Ripon Bookshop has thrived on community, friendship and loyalty.

The shop has grown in recent years and even expanded into a vacant unit next door. It has been doing so well that it’s not so little anymore.

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On a rainy weekend in a gloomy year, Gill thinks there is nothing better than the prospect of curling up with a novel by the fire. She told the Stray Ferret:

“I think that people do have a sense of belonging here. We have got a book club that’s really successful. We are doing it online at the moment, but it’s still going well.

There are just loads of people that love books and they know that if they don’t use it then it doesn’t work. So many people are keen to keep us here and that’s wonderful.”

Find the shop on Westgate in Ripon.

Coronavirus has, of course, been difficult for the shop. It closed its doors for three months but adapted to the online world and delivery quite quickly.

Gill and Simon’s customers appreciated the deliveries but the book shop was trading at about a quarter of what it normally would.

Things are a little different in The Little Ripon Bookshop.

But as soon as they opened the doors again in June, customers flocked back to support the book shop and have kept coming back since.

With a few months of consistently busy trading, the shop is now in a good position to weather any coronavirus lockdown storms on the horizon.

This is part of the Stray Ferret’s ‘hidden gem’ series, highlighting small, independent businesses. They need to be tucked away but growing in popularity with an eye-catching and unique product or approach. Send us an email with your nominations.

The home library service has earned praise in Harrogate for its support for local people as lockdown restrictions are eased.

The service delivers books to those who cannot select them in person, including people with disabilities, illness and caring responsibilities.es.

The service is run by volunteers and was operating out of libraries across North Yorkshire since before lockdown. As libraries began to reopen, the service has also been restarted.

Doris Guiseley, 92, from Harrogate, said:

“I’ve had the service since I was 80 and to me it is a godsend. I’m an avid reader and can get lost in a good book, it’s what keeps me going. I recommend it to everyone I meet and tell them it’s a brilliant service.” 

The Harrogate library volunteers have been praised for their support over lockdown.  

Edith Beckley, a 96-year-old from Harrogate, said: 

“The volunteers have become friends too and when they couldn’t visit they rang me every week during lockdown just for a chat.” 

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The service has now been adapted to ensure the protection of both volunteers and the community. All books are left in a secure place on a pre-arranged date and quarantined after collection. 

In July, a Select and Collect service was also launched to allow customers to limit contact whilst collecting books. 

County Councillor Greg White, executive member for libraries, said:  

“I would encourage more people to take advantage of our brilliant service. If you or someone you know would benefit please get in touch.” 

Libraries in the district have reopened this week for people to return their books and request books. There are plans to reopen for browsing by the end of July.

As well as returning their books, people can also take part in the ‘select and collect’ scheme. The scheme allows people to ask for specific titles but also asks for the reader’s preferred genres, the authors they like in order to create a personalised bundle.

Harrogate library is in the first phase of reopening. From next week people can book computer slots and collect the books they have requested.

Jane Trigoso, Harrogate library supervisor, said:

“The select and collect system has been inundated with requests but I know a lot of people are keen to get back to browsing and physically be in here choosing their books. From next week people will be able to come in and collect their bundles and also sign up if they want to become a new member.”

It’s unlikely these bookshelves will have any visitors until the end of the month.

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Through this period the library has increased its online posting to try and offer the group activities regular visitors are used to. Jane added:

“People can also look on our facebook page to see competitions, online events and story times too. So staff and partners we’ve worked with in the past are reading the stories online.”

Visitors to the library today were pleased to see it had began to reopen. Tom Benson said:

“I used to come her pretty much every week to grab a book so I’m really happy its reopened. I’ve been told I can request books for next week so I need to have a think what book I want. All the systems are for safety and that makes me feel good about it.”

Philip Davies said:

“I’ve really missed it, I’m an avid reader and it’s important to use the libraries. I’ve missed having them open, I’m quite happy with the measures in place and feel at ease.