Tea in the Library (35 page)

I was skulking around the shelves, peering around me with curi-osity and trying not to be seen
—
I didn't feel up to a conversation with the antiquarian owner, even if she had remembered me. But as I picked a small volume of Spenser's verse, Paul popped his head around the shelving.

“Hello! How nice to see you! And it only took you a year to come in!”

Then followed a lot of reminiscing and catching up, and it was a pleasure to see Paul again, if rather spooky to find a human version of Tea In The Library's fittings still in residence, along with the shelves, counter and mirror. Paul was able to tell me that the antiquarians were not closing down completely, but moving to a different premises. They would be able, apparently, to continue to offer him some work, but he said he was thinking of applying for a few more days at other antiquarian shops. After working in lots of different bookshops over the years (many of which had eventually closed
—
but we won't hold that against Paul) he had found his ideal milieu among the antiquarian volumes. He told me how much he liked working in the antiquarian trade
—
“The books are so lovely!”

“And not too many pesky customers, Paul!” We laughed.

While he sold me the little book of verse, and a volume of replicas of
The Sydney
Herald 1835-1836
, Paul told me that they were still encountering people who wandered into the shop and asked longingly after the coffee and café, more than a year after Tea In The Library had closed. According to Paul
—
and I am happy to assume he wasn't just being nice to me
—
the antiquarians had all year received a steady stream of saddened Tea In The Library customers, looking for “their favourite bookshop”.

I'll hold that thought.

If you have read this far, you will have noticed that my modus operandi pretty much throughout the Tea In The Library project was never to make a move without consulting someone
—
consultant, friend, bookseller, coach, accountant, lawyer, a how-to book, or mother nature. My confidence in my ability to figure out how to make retail work was never strong, and to counter this, I looked for advice and back-up most of the way. Sometimes this was specific
— 
for example, how to complete the BAS form
—
and sometimes it was more general – such as how to stay positive and focused. Since I doubt that I would have taken even the first steps in the project with out the information, cajoling, enthusiasm, advice and knowledge provided by all these mentors, I am grateful to them all.

Tea In The Library opened in November 2003 and closed in March 2005. Most of this story was written in the months following the closing of the shop, principally as a cathartic exercise. As I look back over the story now, with a little more healing time having passed, I am inclined to think that I have been too hard on myself. Yes, many mistakes and blunders were made along the way, but almost all my ambitions when opening the shop were fulfilled: I learnt many new skills, enjoyed stimulation and experiences far outside my routine to that time, I made many new friends, acquaintances and mentors, and provided Sydney with one great little bookshop café, if only briefly. Nope, I didn't make my fortune, but I did prove to myself that I could bring my passionately imagined bookshop into real, live reality. I'm inclined to give myself a pat on the back at that thought.

I am happy and grateful that Tea In The Library has been part of my life.

Readers are invited to visit our publishing websites at: http://sidharta.com.au

http://publisher-guidelines.com/

Kerry B. Collison's home pages:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?AuthorID=2239

http://www.expat.or.id/sponsors/collison.html 

email: [email protected]

Purchase Sid Harta titles online at:

http://sidharta.com.au