There were a few eager customers waiting in the sunshine this morning just before 10am as the doors of the Book Warehouse opened for the first time since the flood disaster over four months ago.

Staff were ready and quietly joyful as the new space welcomed in a steady stream of book lovers, the hearts made of books in the window showing the way.

Staff ready to open

One of the first customers through the door was 11 year old Wollongbar resident Tyler who headed straight to the young reader section up the back.

“I just wanted to get this book. My grandma normally brings me here. The bookshop is pretty good,” Tyler said as he made his way to the counter.

Manager Sarah Ryan told the Lismore App she was relieved and happy that this day has finally come.

“It’s a big relief to get to today. There’s a lot of empty shelves but we’ve got new stock coming in every day. We lost all of our art section so that is quite empty at the moment but it’s coming back,” Ms Ryan said.

“In a way it was a blessing as we’ve lost a lot of shelving so we wouldn’t have had the space to put stock back on straight away. There will still be a bit of building happening in the background. There were customers waiting at the door, walking in before we’d even opened which is great. Hopefully, being open will add more life to the street as well,” Ms Ryan added.

part of the ceiling cavity where hundreds of boxes of books were stored, missing flood water by an estimated 20 cm

Approximately half the shop’s stock was saved and stored high in the ceiling of the building which sits four and half metres above the shop floor, just missing the flood water which swamped the shop and mezzanine levels.

The Keen Street store has now returned to regular trading hours –

Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 5.30 pm and Saturday mornings 9.00 am to 2.00 pm.