200 volunteers form human chain to move books from old store to new space

(Image credit: iStock)

published 2 November 2018

A bookstore in Southampton, England, came up with a novel way to move inventory from its old location to a new space down the street: Form a human chain, and pass the books down until they get to their new home.

October Books was established in 1977, and it has lots of devoted customers. The store knew it would be expensive to hire movers, and so it asked people who frequented the shop if they'd join in and help pass the books from the old stockroom to the new store's main floor. Employee Amy Brown told NPR the store expected about 100 people to stop by last Sunday, and they were shocked when more than 200 showed up.

It was "a sight to behold," she said. The line stretched for 500 feet, and the whole neighborhood got involved, with local restaurants passing out cups of tea and pedestrians joining in when they learned what was going on. In about an hour, more than 2,000 books made the journey down the line to the new space. "It was really sort of surprising and positive, and just a really moving experience to see people chipping in because they wanted to help," Brown said. "And they wanted to be part of something bigger."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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