Such a small bookstore
Originally from Paliseul, the bookseller began his activity in August 1996: “I had considered renting a store in Libramont, but very quickly when I calculated the financial income and the price of a rental, I had to resolve to retreat into my own house, condemning two rooms which would accommodate custom shelving made by a cousin”recalls Mr. Bodson.
“We lived among the crates and I had to slalom around the small living room and the kitchen between the packages of books”says Brigitte who worked at the time as a nurse in Libramont.
“I had neither a computer nor Bancontact and could not afford to hire an employee, even part-time. I wrote everything down on sheets of paper. I did not count my hours”reports the bookseller who only took two short weeks of leave per year. He adds: “It’s truly a couple’s business. Without the help of my wife who helped me whenever she could to encode, sort the packages we received and repackage the shipments for orders to libraries, schools and the private ones, how would I have done?”he further specifies.
More than 9,000 references
“Even if the time was undoubtedly more favorable to open such a store, I believe that with only one salary, it was doomed to failure. And so, I sometimes worked nights at the clinic”smiles Brigitte who says she regrets nothing and who is proud that they always managed to get by.
About twenty years ago, the couple had an annex built to the house at the back. As a result, it’s the family living room that will be eaten up by the bookstore. We added to the shelves a small round table with small stools, right in the middle of this annex. The toys disappear and we make room for what the bookstore sells exclusively: literature, children’s books and comics. The bookstore, and this is its pride, only sold books and no derivative products like Lotto or cigarettes.
Le Temps de Lire is a few square meters and two small display cases, but in total more than nine thousand book references!
Pierre Bodson is very proud of his customers: “When we had our meetings at the Federation of Booksellers, the colleagues told us that it was in the province of Luxembourg that there were the most orders for books. Our customers are patient. If the book you they’re looking for isn’t available, they’ll wait and not go to Amazon.”
-When we ask him if it would be possible for him to open the same bookstore today, starting from scratch, he answers bluntly: “No. And you know, it remains a passion. I have a repertoire of more than three thousand clients and I claim to know many of them who have become friends over time. I have been able to advise readings for the most part I tried to take the time to read everything I could get my hands on; I watched specialized programs and attended publishers’ previews thanks to the federation of booksellers of Brussels and Wallonia. to know what was coming out on the market. In September, more than five hundred books come out, the same in January, and you need a little bit of everything to meet the tastes of my customers. Nothomb, etc. People find them in supermarkets here, the bookseller must be able to advise and find rare gems in all this abundance.concludes Pierre Bodson.
Harry Potter and the Night Sessions
“Obviously over the last twenty-eight years, I have only experienced one enormous phenomenon like everywhere else in the world: the release of the Harry Potter books! What an adventure!remembers Pierre Bodson. It was only for Harry Potter that we stayed open at night. Lots of teenagers and children from Libramont were waiting for the midnight embargo to pass to be the first to discover the adventures of the little magician. They had all booked beforehand and everyone knew they would get a copy, but despite that, it was excitement! We had created a decor worthy of the event…”
Le Temps de Lire will leave Serpont after December 31
“I’m retiring with a lighter heart because we found a couple of buyers who are busy training every day at our place and who are going to move Le Temps de Lire to a house at the start of the Grand-Rue, where a podiatrist was installed. They will keep the name of the bookstore. It’s a relief, because I know that the dream I created will last for a few more years.”explains Pierre Bodson.
Future booksellers cannot stay at rue du Serpont, since it is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bodson. They will be hard at work in their new store at the beginning of January.
This couple from Libramont is Frédéric Coulon, graphic designer in Bras and Bélinda Chauveau, sports coach
