Book by book, hand to hand — hundreds formed a human chain to help Melbourne’s oldest bookshop move to a new home, on a rainy day in the city.
The chain was formed on Thursday morning, in front of the Hill of Content bookshop, which is relocating from the Bourke Street address it has maintained since 1922.
Last year, the building was sold for $5.3 million, forcing the owners of Hill of Content to vacate after 103 years.
“[The] building feels quite iconic, and we’ve loved our time there … but a new chapter is starting, and we’re really embracing that,” Jaclyn Crupi, bookseller, author, and staff member at the store, told SBS News.
“It’s bittersweet.”
Jaclyn Crupi walked into the bookstore in 2008 and asked for a job. She said it changed her life.
The bookstore is relocating 120m down the road, from 86 to 32 Bourke Street.
‘Get something positive out of it’
Robyn Annear, the person who came up with the idea of shaping a human chain, told SBS News that she read about something similar happening in the US.
She said that she suggested the bookstore members “get something positive out of [the relocation] and get your customers involved.”
“It is amazing when people come in on a day when small hail is predicted, it’s just fantastic.
“People love these books.”
About 18,000 books were packed by members, and in the human chain, hundreds helped move a few thousand of the books.
Veronica Sullivan, festival director of the Melbourne Writers Festival, was among those passing books from hand to hand in the rainy weather.
“It’s kind of raining a little bit, but it is an opportunity to show how much we love the store,” she told SBS News.
“It says something about the community here in Melbourne … It tells you how much Melbourne loves books and writing.
“We are a city of literature, and that’s embedded in our cultural fabric, and the turnout is testament to that.”