Read Well, Live Well, Be Well.
There is a new shop in town! You might have noticed that there has been a recent new arrival to Market Street in Hay. Just opposite the Butter Market you can step into a world of books and storytelling at the Literature Laboratory.
A haven created for young minds. They also specialise in outdoor activities, parenting books, wellbeing and yoga literature and gifts.
Founded by Rebecca Watkins, the Literature Laboratory is the product of her love of storytelling, imagination and children’s literature. Her son Noah is the Chief Creative Officer who chooses and reviews many of the books in the shop, a key factor in ensuring the space is led by children, for children.Working with Hay Primary School, a percentage of the shop profits are donated to the school and children in different year groups have taken on the role of wellbeing literature ambassadors to help inform book choices and improve literacy with funding hopefully supporting teaching workshops in the autumn term onwards.
Entering the shop, you will see a range of eco sustainable wellbeing goods, such as QiECO yoga mats, travel wash kits and jewellery.Venturing up the small set of stairs you will find the beginning of the book collection, with a selection of titles to support parents on challenges and promote positive mental health and in the back room is where you will find the heart of the shop; a children’s reading room, decorated by children, for children. This is a space filled with comfortable chairs, books, chalk boards, bookcases and rugs. Book clubs, interactive story times, author events and reading challenges all take place here!
This is more than a bookshop, it’s a community with the vision to support young people to become empathetic, strong and resilient.There are so many different challenges that children face today, simply growing up is a maze,and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s why it’s important to teach young people how to understand and take care of their wellbeing. Rebecca believes that books are medicine and if we can read well, then we can live well and be well.That is the ethos behind the Literature Laboratory, an exciting new addition to our community where parents can be engaged in the lives of their children through the book medicine they have chosen!