Greetings everyone and Happy New Year! This is my first official post at our new blog at gallowglassbooks.com and I do promise to make it a more regular occurrence. It will be a wonderful means of recording some of the happenings, and comings and goings at the Bookshop.
The overwhelming feeling that I have at the close of 2008 is one of sincere gratitude. With completing my 12th Holiday Season at Gallowglass, I am left with the deep sense that the bookstore is very much appreciated. This is so important and is really the lifeblood of a Used & Rare Bookshop; to know that your work matters and is important in your community. We have been so well patronized, even through the most unpredictable of weather here in Cowichan; the door just never stopped opening, and the shop had a true feel of vibrancy the whole year through. Success in my business really is measured by ‘appreciation for your existence on an ongoing basis’.
It is very evident to me that the passion for books and reading is very much alive and that is true, both here locally and internationally. We definitely see that one of the great truths is that ‘reading breeds more reading’. A part of one’s personal evolution is the result of a lifetime of reading, whether the individual is young or old, or somewhere in between. Reading is one of life’s great pleasures, and it seems that even more people are finding their way to discovering the merits of a well stocked and carefully selected used & rare bookstore inventory with titles that span the ages (well, the past couple hundred years, in any event!).
I want to thank all of the individuals, far too many to mention, who through small or large contribution over the past year, have made Gallowglass Books what it is. We have clients from next door to us, on each side, and from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, and many many places in between, and I truly wish to offer sincere thanks to all of you. I believe that in plying the trade of used & rare books, one gets to know their patrons as friends and in terms of what their passions are in many cases, and that is just so rewarding.
I would like to thank the two who share in my delight with the running of the shop, Richard Neftin and Pat Ormond, whom I feel are very closely connected to the spirit of the business. Also to my lovely wife Alanah who, in her spare time (which is practically non-existent) came up with the wonderful idea of enhancing the store’s ability to interact with it’s clients with this new website. And also, I wish to thank my mentor and inspiration, my Dad and business partner Andy Downie, who has always believed so strongly in Gallowglass, even I times when I was in doubt of its ability to survive. Dad was the one who instilled the passion for books in me at such a young age and that gentle madness of always feeling that the next great find is only a box lid away, and another box, and another box, etc. etc. etc…..
I am very much looking forward to what the New Year brings and I feel that we shall have ample opportunity to help with all of your book requests, buying, selling, searching and sharing. It has been a true pleasure to have made it this far and I am very eager to see what the future holds for this business.
Best Wishes!
Jeff Downie, manager
Gallowglass Books Ltd.
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