Written by Hellenic Bookservice Named a Bookshop Champions for Independent Bookshop Week 2026
The Booksellers Association has announced that Hellenic Bookservice in Kentish Town, London has been selected as one of 20 Bookshop Champions for Independent Bookshop Week 2026, taking place from Saturday 13 to Saturday 20 June across the UK and Ireland.
The Bookshop Champions will represent the independent bookselling sectorâs renown innovation, community impact and commitment to reading for pleasure throughout the Independent Bookshop Week 2026 campaign.
The 20 Bookshop Champions were selected through an open submission process across the Booksellers Association membership. The final group reflects the breadth and depth of independent bookshops today, and the shared values and strengths that underpin the sector: encouraging reading for pleasure, bringing people together around books, connecting online audiences with in-shop experiences and building strong local partnerships that benefit their communities.
The Hellenic Bookservice has been an independent, specialist bookshop since 1966, serving readers worldwide with both new and second-hand books, across its two floors. Founded on Charing Cross Road, it relocated to the Tufnell Park area of North London, in 1990. The bookshop has adapted to decades of change, since those early days of chunky typewriters and enormous BBIP tomes, to online research, internet and e-mail orders, with a growing presence on social media platforms, such as âInstagramâ.
The shop is renowned for its expertise in all things Greek, but especially the Classics. It has supplied schools, libraries and summer schools, with all their needs, for over 35 years. Beyond bookselling, it partakes in owner-led exhibitions, across the length and breadth of Great Britain, taking personalised orders, and sourcing rare, out-of-print titles, reflecting the depth of personal experience, dedication and passion. The Hellenic Bookservice trades internationally, shipping worldwide, and is currently developing a new, upgraded website to better display the shopâs stock, and its services. Customers consistently praise the knowledgeable staff, contributing to a glowing 4.8-star âGoogleâ rating.
This year, Independent Bookshop Week marks its 20th anniversary year, celebrating two decades of bringing together booksellers, writers, artists, publishers and readers across the UK and Ireland to champion the vital role independent bookshops play in bringing communities together locally, supporting the creative industries nationally and inspiring reading for pleasure for everyone.
Independent Bookshop Week 2026 takes place within the wider National Year of Reading in the UK, reinforcing the campaignsâ shared ambition and vision to expand access to books and encourage reading for pleasure.
As part of the 2026 celebrations, poet and author Matt Goodfellow will write the official Independent Bookshop Week campaign poem, while campaign ambassadors Kit de Waal, Katriona OâSullivan and Katie Clapham will help champion the importance of independent bookshops and reading for pleasure throughout the anniversary year.
Moncia Williams of Hellenic Bookservice said: âWhen my mother and I first opened âThe Hellenic Bookserviceâ on Londonâs Charing Cross Road, in March 1966, bookselling was a very different world! No computers. No internet. Mobile âphones still very much the stuff of science-fiction! We used typewriters with carbon paper, for invoices, and two exceptionally heavy âWhitakerâs: British Books in Printâ (BBIP) volumes, just to discover whether a book might be available! Over the ensuing 60 years, Iâve had to adapt – learn how to use computers, do online research, and digital ordering, etc. – but the joy of connecting readers to books, has never changed. My shop stocks both new and second-hand books, across two floors; it serves customers from all over the world, and I take particular pride in our expertise of the Greek and Latin Classics. Whether finding a rare, out-of-print title, or curating school and library collections, experience makes the difference.”
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Marketing and Communications at the Booksellers Association, said: âIndependent Bookshop Week 2026 marks 20 years of celebrating the incredible role independent bookshops play in bringing people together, providing local hubs for the creative industries and inspiring a love of reading across the UK and in Ireland.
Weâre honoured to announce Hellenic Bookservice as one of our Bookshop Champions, following an open submission process across our membership. The quality of entries made the selection incredibly challenging, and the final selection beautifully reflects the variety, creativity and value independent bookshop bring to readers of all ages.
We cannot wait to see the fantastic work they do be an integral part of our celebrations.â
The full list of Bookshop Champions is: Green Pastures (Dereham); Teasel & Skylark (Dorchester); Of Books and Love (Islington); The Portobello Bookshop (Edinburgh); The Castle Bookshop (Castlebar); The Book Centre(Waterford); Daydreams Bookshop (Milngavie); Kenilworth Books (Kenilworth); Travellersâ Tales (Marylebone); Tipsy Books (Bideford); The Secret Bookshelf (Carrickfergus); The Hellenic Bookservice (Kentish Town); Book Space (Cardiff); FOLDE (Shaftesbury); Seven Stories Bookshop (Newcastle); FORUM Books (Corbridge); Book Vault (Barnsley); Truman Books (Farsley); Chapters (Dublin); Ink & Ember (Stamford).