5 Minutes with Phillip Schwebel

“How long have you worked at Collins Booksellers for?”

“Margaret and I have had our bookshop here in Orange for 18 years, we started up just after the 2000 Olympic Games”

 “What range/types of books do you sell? Do you specialise in anything particular?”

Being a general bookshop in a country town we try to cover all bases. An area we do concentrate on mostly is children’s books, Margaret my wife used to be a teacher and children’s books are just an interest we both have, other than that it’s just a broad range of fiction, nonfiction, and whatever people show an interest in we will try sell it!”

 “With the changing world today do you think people nowadays prefer to read books via internet or electronic device more than a hard copy?”

“5 years ago there was a big push that e books were going to be the next big thing and there certainly was an increase there for a year or 2 but, that has now plateaued and if anything e Book use has declined in the last 2 years. This is usually more common for people who travel a lot and kids mostly prefer a book over reading it online, it’s a matter of trying it but not liking it anymore, it will always be there it’s just a small fraction of the market.”

 “What makes your bookshop different to others around the area?”

“When we first started off there were 3 bookshops in town and now we are the only one left, it seems that bigger country towns only have 1 bookshop each, we are really just competing with being different from the department stores and it’s the range of books and the knowledge and passion we have that sets us apart.”

 “Is there a something that Collins Booksellers do that the people of Orange probably don’t know about?”

“We are heavily involved with the schools around Orange, we love to help out the local schools. We do all the educational books, textbook and study guides and for teachers we get books in for them and something new we have coming is puzzles and book related toys.

“Why is having a bookshop important to a town?”

“It’s crucial to every town to have a wide range of books and shops, it’s to provide that range especially for kids at such a young age, it’s crucial to have them reading at a young age, and having a bookshop in town really provides this opportunity”

 “What would you say to encourage others to buy here locally rather than online?”

“It’s obvious really, everytown needs the support of the people that live here to be able to survive. We support whoever supports us, we support local schools, charity groups as best as we can, and we can only do that when we get the support of the town themselves, it’s really a 2 way street.”