30 Oct 2015

Rural communities transforming themselves into booktowns

From Nine To Noon, 9:34 am on 30 October 2015

The booktown movement started in the Welsh town of Hay on Wye 1961 when Richard Booth decided to try and make it a mecca for book lovers to try and save the town's struggling rural economy. The concept gained international attention, when in 1977 he proclaimed himself as King of Hay on Wye - and appointed his horse as Prime Minister. The movement has spread throughout the world, there are book towns across Europe and in Malaysia, Korea, and Australia - they are filled with second hand bookstores, and host book festivals