Books / Bookshops

Hydra Books looks to the future

By Joe Melia  Wednesday Feb 13, 2019

Hydra Books, the independent bookshop on Old Market, has announced that its lease is coming to an end on June 30. The property’s landlords want to redevelop the building, which will include the flats above the bookshop.

Hydra opened in 2011 and is run as a co-operative. It was founded by the Bristol Radical History Group . As well as selling books, the fiercely independent shop hosts events and aims to be a meeting place for discussion and debate.

In a blogpost on their website, Hydra are keen to stress that this is not the end of the bookshop. The post says: “We’ve had seven years of books, gigs, community and organising and we’re going to have more. We’re investigating all our options and exploring lots of ideas for our future.”

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This news comes at a time when Bristol has seen a significant increase in the number of bookshops in the city, particularly since the arrival of Max Minerva’s and Storysmith last year.

Hydra are keen to involve their customers and the wider Bristol community in their future plans. The blogpost continues: “It’s still early days and as we begin to plan, we want to know about /any/ contribution you can make to securing Hydra’s future. We’re not ruling anything out at this point; you might have skills or advice we’ve not even thought about! Any offers of help are valuable.”

For more information on Hydra Books and the kind of help and suggestions they are looking for, visit https://www.hydrabooks.org/

Read more: New Bookshop on North Street

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