Bookshop Day is an annual, one day celebration of all high street bookshops. Approximately 1000 UK retailers, both independents and branches of chain bookshops, participate. Bookshop Day aims to celebrate bookshops - their contribution to our communities as well as the service they provide for their customers - and to encourage people to start their Christmas book-shopping early, on their high street, with their local bookshop; to “choose bookshops”. The campaign launched in 2013 and falls on the second Saturday in October.
Bookshop Day 2025 takes place Saturday 11 October.
Each year Books Are My Bag commissions an illustrator to create the campaign artwork. This year, the artwork was created by Ashwin Chacko. Ashwin is an award-winning, author-Illustrator and motivational speaker. He specialises in positively playful, visual storytelling to bring joy and encouragement. His mission is to champion creativity and empower people to find their inner spark through his art, books, talks & workshops.
Author of: Keep At It, Little Optimist, Everybody Feels Fear, A Little Book About Justice, What Wondrous Shapes We Are, Wild City (shortlisted for Children's Book of the Year (Junior), An Post Irish Book Awards) & I Am The Wind (winner of the Children's Book of the Year (Senior), An Post Irish Book Awards). Ashwin is based in Belfast.
You can find his work here: www.whackochacko.com / www.instagram.com/whackochacko
The annual Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag is available for purchase exclusively via high street and independent bookshops from Bookshop Day onwards, while stocks last. For the first time ever, the same artist, Ashwin Chacko, has created the campaign artwork and the bag design!
Our City Spotlight activity shines a light on a different part of the country each year. Working with Jack Arts, local artists are commissioned to create bespoke bookshop murals. This year our focus is on Sheffield and its wonderful bookshops. Local artists Bethan Woollvin and Emily Redfern will create murals at 37 High Street and Arundel Street/Charles Lane.
Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag designers:
- 2025: Ashwin Chacko
- 2024: Angela Harding
- 2023: Poonam Mistry
- 2022: Jackie Morris
- 2021: Dapo Adeola
- 2020: Charlie Mackesy
- 2019: Yehrin Tong
- 2018: Sir Peter Blake
- 2017: Orla Kiely
- 2016:Coralie Bickford-Smith; Fatti Burke (designed for Irish bookshops)
- 2015: Grayson Perry
- 2014: Tracy Emin
Choose Bookshops
- Local jobs
- Local economy
- Local community
- Real passion
- Real people
- Real conversations
- Proper service
- Perfect gifts
- (and taxes paid!)
How can I celebrate Bookshop Day?
- Find your local bookshop
- Shop with them on Bookshop Day
- Pick up our Limited-Edition Bag!
- Share your book purchases on social media tagging @booksaremybag and #BookshopDay
- Tag your favourite bookshop on social media and encourage your followers to do the same (make sure you also tag @booksaremybag and #BookshopDay!)
- Kick-start your Christmas shopping!
- Every bookshop will have their own way of celebrating Bookshop Day so make sure you find out what your local has planned – whether it is an in-store author signing, a virtual event, book club, special offers and more.
Get news about events and offers from your local bookshop straight to your inbox with National Book Tokens Discover. Visit the National Book Tokens site to search for your nearest shop and sign up!
Keep up to date with campaign at:
Thanks to all of our sponsors, National Book Tokens, Hachette UK, Penguin Random House UK, HarperCollins Publishers, Pan Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, DK, Bloomsbury, Usborne, Scholastic, Faber & Faber, Bonnier Books UK, Chicken House, Profile Books, Walker Books, Ingram Content Group, David Fickling.
If you are a bookseller or publisher and would like more information about the campaign, please visit the Booksellers Association website.