Books are my business: Jenni Doherty of Little Acorns Bookstore

The bookshop owner opened up a book stall 13 years ago, with 100 books on a 6ft table, and now she has 60,000 books in a three-storey building

Sat, 16 Dec, 2023 - 02:00

Marjorie Brennan

Jenni Doherty is the owner of Little Acorns Bookstore in the city of Derry. She is originally from Greencastle, Co Donegal.

How did you get into bookselling?

My mum was an English teacher and my dad owned a bakery in Moville, Co Donegal. From an early age, a love of reading and books was instilled in us. I am one of six, and it was hard to get any attention, so I would hide away reading my books.

I did social work, then I went into journalism for a while. My first few jobs were in bookshops, then I went into publishing and I was in the library service for a number of years.

Having my own bookshop was accidental; I always dreamed about it but I never thought it would happen. I opened up a wee book stall 13 years ago, with 100 books on a 6ft table. Now I have 60,000 books in a three-storey building — be careful what you wish for.

I have had seven moves in 12 years. I don’t know if that speaks for my dedication or stubbornness but I have followed my dream.

Tell me more about the bookshop

I closed my former shop on New Year’s Eve last year and it took me three-and-a-half months to move to the new building. I would eventually like to move in ... that has always been my dream, to live above a bookshop.

The first room I created was the children’s/young adult room because that is the most important. It is three times bigger than four of my previous locations.

I am still unpacking, there are not enough hours in the day.

I am living within a story book myself, it is writing itself. I sell new and secondhand books and I also collect typewriters — I got my first typewriter from Santa Claus when I was about seven years old. I kept it and now I have about 150 typewriters. A lot of them have been gleaned from people who find them in attics, and people donate them or swap them for books.

What do you like most about your job?

I am privileged to be doing something I love. Where else would you meet a 90-year-old, and then a five-week old baby in the same day? I was able to give the baby his first book and I thought it is such a blessing, to be entrusted with that.

I also love having a bookshop in Derry, it is a really big community, everybody knows everybody. We are also starting to get a lot of tourism to the north-west.

Tourists from the US come over for the Derry Girls experience. It has showcased all the other fantastic arts and culture in Derry, musicians, writers, artists, and comedians.

The welcome in Derry is great, we are so chuffed to get people coming here and to Donegal. Whenever a tourist comes in, I treat them as one of our own.

What do you like least about it?

The only thing is I wish I had more time to read. When you become a bookseller, you do sacrifice your own love of reading and writing. I get envious when someone buys a book that I’ve been looking at and want to read.

I am living vicariously through those who are buying the books I want to read.

My to-be-read pile is my entire shop. When I get bigger and better and I have more staff, I can take time off to enjoy the books.

Three desert island books

I absolutely love The Late Night Writers Club: A Graphic Novel by Annie West, who is from Sligo. Because it is visual, every time you look at it, there is something different. It bursts with cleverness, wit, and humour.

The Letters of Seamus Heaney, edited by Christopher Reid, is pure pleasure. It was the 10th anniversary of his death this year and because he went to school in Derry, a lot of people around here knew him. It is revealing but respectful. It also makes me think we should all start writing letters again.

My third pick would be Close to Home by Michael Magee, which is a stunning book for a debut writer. People come in and say it is very hard to buy a book for their son or their uncle and they will go for sports books because they don’t read novels, but this is one that would be brilliant.