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2014
30 September 2014
Mudgee book shop closes after 21 years
Books in Mudgee will close this month, ending 21 years as booksellers for David and Julie Cockerill.
Over two decades, the store has built up a following among Mudgee's book lovers, and Mrs Cockerill said there were even visitors to town who told her they came in every time they visited.
Ms Cockerill said the job was perfect for a book lover who enjoyed reading heavily to stay informed about what was on the shelves.
It was also a job with long hours that required her to be in the bookshop at all times, but between the extensive reading, making book recommendations and the relationships she built up with readers, authors and the tight-knit publishing industry, Mrs Cockerill said the life of a bookseller had been a joy.
'I've loved every minute of it,' she said.
Julie Cockerill was a primary school teacher when she bought the newly established Mudgee franchise of Angus and Robertson 21 years ago.
She said teaching was the ideal preparation for opening a bookshop, as both careers benefited from a love of reading, and teachers already knew the best children's literature.
'It wasn't a difficult change at all,' she said.
She said sharing book recommendations with children, parents and grandparents was one of her favourite things about running Books in Mudgee.
'When you come from being a teacher and you lose contact with the children, this is so lovely,' she said.
'It is a lovely way of life.'
The shop became Books in Mudgee and moved from Church Street to its current Market Street site in 2007, when the franchise contract with Angus and Robertson ended and the Cockerills decided to take the business forward as an independent bookseller.
The Angus and Robertson system had given them experience in purchasing their own stock, and the store already had a loyal local following that made the transition easy.
Books in Mudgee is selling its stock at a 30 per cent discount leading up to the end of the store's lease on October 15.
Mrs Cockerill said it was nice to see regular customers benefiting from the sale and great books going home with old friends.
The Cockerills will now concentrate on Mr Cockerill's Cudgegong Valley Olives, a growing business producing locally harvested table olives and oil1 .