New premises

Press, 13 November 1985, Page 34

New premises

Easts Bookshop, an identity in Christchurch’s literary world for 91 years, has taken over the former Corner bookshop, on the corner of Papanui Road and St Albans Street.

It is now wearing a new look and a new name — Easts Corner Bookshop.

Easts Corner Bookshop is owned and run by Gillian Boyce and Beth Davies, both devoted book lovers. They are helped in the shop by Jill Basher, who has eight years in the book trade behind her, and a part-time worker, Linda Meers.

Gillian said Easts Corner Bookshop had a topclass ordering system — “almost like a detective agency” — with the use of a Microfiche system.

The Microfiche, operated by Jill Basher, is basically a cataloguing system using microfilm, with lists of

books available from both Great Britain and the United States updated every three months.

It gives instant information on any book that is in print, so if a customer comes in with either a title or author they are interested in, the information can be found on the Microfiche.

It can tell if a book is in print and what the price is, either in English or American currency. A New Zealand cost is established by

an exchange rate struck every three months by the Booksellers’ Association.

Easts also keeps a weekly exchange rate from the bank which is used when charging out for books bought by libraries and schools. If a book comes from a New Zealand distributor, the price has already been set at that source.