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Booklovers form human chain to move Melbourne’s oldest bookshop one item at a time \u2013 video<\/p>\nOn the street, in a huge line, undeterred by rain, they gathered to pass books.<\/p>\n
Bibliophiles, builders from nearby construction sites, kids with their parents, all stood for hundreds of metres along Bourke Street in Melbourne\u2019s CBD on Thursday morning in a human chain.<\/p>\n
They were there to help the beloved bookshop, Hill of Content, move from its location of more than 100 years to a new home.<\/p>\n
In wintry weather 300 people stood in a line passing thousands of books up Bourke Street, from Hill of Content\u2019s old store into the new.<\/p>\n
As rain started falling people pulled out umbrellas and raincoats, with the books wrapped in brown paper.<\/p>\n
Booklovers form human chain to move Melbourne’s oldest bookshop one item at a time \u2013 video<\/p>\n
Hill of Content is the city\u2019s oldest bookstore, opening in 1922 at 86 Bourke Street. The three-storey heritage-listed building it occupied for 103 years was sold for $5.3m last year<\/a>, with the bookshop\u2019s owners forced to start searching for a new home.<\/p>\n Diana Johnson, who owns Hill of Content with her husband, Duncan Johnson, said the human chain would pass 17,000 books up to the new store.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a fair number of people I know in the line, lots of loyal customers, we are so grateful they have supported us all those years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t possibly close the shop down on our watch. It\u2019s been in Melbourne literacy for over 103 years. So we decided we would continue it on.\u201d<\/p>\n Hundreds of booklovers turned out to help Hill of Content move thousands of books to its new home on Thursday morning. Photograph: Bertin Huynh\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Within an hour, the army of booklovers had already put hundreds of books on the new shelves, Johnson said.<\/p>\n She was inspired to try relocating the store\u2019s inventory with a human chain after a customer told her of a \u201cbook brigade\u201d in the United States that helped move<\/a> Serendipity Books in Michigan to a new location.<\/p>\n \u201cI am just so grateful,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n The new premises at 32 Bourke Street are just metres away from the old, and Hill of Content put out a call on social media earlier this month asking booklovers to help it move.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Saved for Later<\/p>\n Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia’s culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n