A book town is a town or village with many used book or antiquarian bookstores. These stores, as well as literary festivals, attract bibliophile tourists. Some book towns are members of the International Organisation of Book Towns.

List of book towns

Book towns with known dates of operation

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

, China (17th century) * Jinbōchō, Japan (early 1880s) * Hay-on-Wye, Wales (1961) *

Redu Redu ( wa, Ridû) is a village of Wallonia and district of the municipality of Libin, located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The village is twinned with Hay-on-Wye in the United Kingdom and was one of the first book towns. The villag ...

, Belgium (1984) *

Bécherel Bécherel (; , Gallo: ''Becherèu'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. History During the Roman times the town was positioned close to the important road linking Rennes with Dinan to the north. In ...

, France (1988) * Montolieu, France (1989) *

Bredevoort Bredevoort (Low Saxon: ) is a small city with city privileges of about 1600 inhabitants in the municipality of Aalten, Netherlands. It is between the towns of Aalten and Winterswijk. Bredevoort has presented itself as ''Bredevoort boekenstad'' (' ...

, Netherlands (1993) *

Saint-Pierre-de-Clages Saint-Pierre-de-Clages is a village in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking part of the Canton of Valais in the municipality of Chamoson. The village of Saint-Pierre-de-Clages was joined with the municipality of Chamoson in 1376. It ...

, Switzerland (1993) *

Fontenoy-la-Joûte Fontenoy-la-Joûte () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. History Fontenoy-la-Joûte has been a book town since 1996, it has about twenty book stores. Demographics See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Mo ...

, France (1993) * Mundal, Norway (1995) * Wigtown, Scotland (1997) * Zossen-Wünsdorf, Germany (1997) *

Damme Damme () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, six kilometres northeast of Brugge (Bruges). The municipality comprises the city of Damme proper and the villages of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerke, S ...

, Belgium (1997) * Dalmellington, Scotland (1997, though the last bookseller closed in 2005 and the project has folded.) * Sysmä, Finland (4 July 1997) *

Mühlbeck Mühlbeck is a village and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Muldestausee Muldestausee is a municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfe ...

- Friedersdorf, Germany (1997) *

Kampung Buku Langkawi A kampong (''kampung'' in Malay and Indonesian) is the term for a village in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and a "port" in Cambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especially of the indigenous people, and has also been used t ...

, Malaysia (3 December 1997) * Archer City, U.S. (1999) *

Montmorillon Montmorillon () is a commune in central-western France, in the Vienne department of which it is a sub-prefecture, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its inhabitants are called ''Montmorillonnaises'' ''and Montmorillonnais''. Montmorillon is a Book town an ...

, France (2000) * Southern Highlands, Australia (2000) *

Mellösa Mellösa (, locally ) is a locality situated in Flen Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. It had 535 inhabitants in 2010. In 2001, Mellösa became the first book town in Sweden. Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sve ...

, Sweden (2001) *

Tvedestrand is municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the town of Tvedestrand. There are many villages in the municipality including Dypvåg, Fiane, Gjeving, Gødders ...

, Norway (2003) * Sedbergh, England (2003) * Blaenavon, Wales (28 June 2003, though the project had folded by March 2006.) * Brownville, U.S. (2004) *

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, U.S. – Book Village of the Catskills (2005) * Atherstone, England (2005) * Torup,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

(2006) *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, South Africa (2006) * Kampung Buku Melaka, Malaysia (17 April 2007) *

Urueña Urueña is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 213 inhabitants. The streets and stone houses have been restored to those of a m ...

, Spain (2007) * Bellprat, Spain (2008) *

Esquelbecq Esquelbecq (; from ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Its southern limit with Ledringhem is ''chemin de Rubrouck''. Heraldry History In 1436, Wautier de Ghistelles was ''seigneur d'Ekelsbeke et de Ledringhem'' (Lord ...

, France (2010) *

Borrby Borrby is a locality situated in Simrishamn Municipality Simrishamn Municipality ( sv, Simrishamns kommun) is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the city Simrishamn. The creation of the present munici ...

, Sweden (17 July 2011) * Clunes, Australia (2012) * Montereggio,

Mulazzo Mulazzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa-Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa. Mulazzo borders the following municipalities: Calice al Cornoviglio, Filatti ...

, Italy * Óbidos, Portugal (2015) *

Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...

, New Zealand (2015) * Cervera, Spain (2016) * Montblanc, Spain (2017) *

Bhilar Bhilar is a village in Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Geography Bhilar is located near the hill station Panchgani. Bhilar is popular for its strawberries. Village of books Bhilar became India's first "village of books", ...

, India (2017) * La Pobla de Segur, Spain (2018) * L'Escala, Spain (2019)

Book towns with unknown dates of operation

Sidney Sidney may refer to: People * Sidney (surname), English surname * Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * ...

, Canada * Gold Cities BookTown,

Grass Valley A grass valley (also vega and valle) is a meadow located within a forested and relatively small drainage basin such as a headwater. Grass valleys are common in North America, where they are created and maintained principally by the work of b ...

, U.S.

References

External links

International Organisation of Book Towns

Catalonia Organisation of Book Towns
{{Books Literary festivals Bookstores Bookselling Types of towns