Interview by AMBRE PLUTA / Photography by Oluchi Egbom
Every morning without fail as I arrive onto campus, I see Simon slowly setting up the bookshelves and tables outside Alpha Books. Once he is done setting up the shop, he takes off his coat and hangs it on the front door. A truly comforting and never-changing ritual, one that symbolises the warmth and joy that Alpha Books brings to LSE. With this interview, I am excited to tell you the story of Simon Coady and Alpha Books, our beloved second-hand bookshop on campus.
There is something quite magical about entering Alpha Books. For a few minutes, you get to forget the stress of university, essays, application deadlines, and the pains of becoming an adult.
While we took pictures for the interview in Alpha Books, I interviewed Simon in George IV, the postgraduate students pub instead. I was told many times that if I did not see Simon at the shop I would most probably find him there. He seemed to know everyone, and as I arrived for our interview, he was having lunch there.
Alpha Books has been a fixture of the LSE campus for nearly 26 years. It began as a pop-up stall in the now-destroyed East Building. Simon explained that the putting up and taking down the stall took a lot of work, “It began to drive me crazy. You have a fantasy that you open the shop door and put the lights on. That was not the case.” After three years of doing that, Simon asked the SU if he could have a shop on the mezzanine floor of the East Building. That is when Alpha Books first became a permanent store. However, it was quite hard to find. Simon explained that it started off badly as people wouldn’t go up there. “People would ask ‘What kind of shop is it?’ I would go, ‘Isn’t it obvious? It’s a bookshop.’”
After 19 years of Alpha Books being in the East Building, the building got demolished. In early July of 2015, the bookshop upgraded to its current location on the corner of Portsmouth Street. “I have to say, I’ve always had a good feeling about the SU. They are the reason I got a call from the architects about the bookshop. I had been there many years. But I thought that was the end of everything. But thanks to the SU of that year, it was only the beginning.”
The bookshop is now in a much livelier area of campus which attracts more foot traffic. Simon explained that he now gets three primary audiences: the students, the lawyers on their way to the Royal Courts of Justice, and tourists.
The bookshop follows the passage of time at LSE in a way no one else does. “There is a most definite LSE rhythm which follows the seasons. And there is an enormous stretch within the summer term comprising exams and summer school.” Simon explained a noticeable degree of insecurity in the post-exams period, which is why there is an appetite for escapism, fiction, while “some uncertain future looms.” Alpha Books offers both fiction and academic texts. “The ratio between the two changes, but I would say that fiction is an essential sideshow.”
“Sometimes I liken to customers that they should think of [Alpha Books] as a beam from a lighthouse. A lighthouse beam sweeps across an area, so customers may find some things they need.” Simon also tried to stock books that students ask for as it increases the variety of books and authors sold in the bookstore.
Simon mostly hires students from LSE to work in the bookshop. He likes to hire students, except for first years. “This is no prejudice really, they get swamped by their work after four or five weeks. They realise they all want to do work here but haven’t got the time.”
Simon has a long-running rapport with the student body and is a beloved figure on campus. I spoke with two students who work at Alpha Books: Sierra Herring, a third-year student in Geography, and Madison Weisend, a postgraduate student in Environment and Development. They were both very enthusiastic about working with Simon, explaining how he randomly quotes Hamlet, goes to used-book sales on weekends, and has created a lovely atmosphere at the bookshop. Sierra explained that “he’s very accommodating and actually very caring. It feels a bit like a bookshop family, I like it.”
Simon praised the initiative and enthusiasm of students, “They’re easy to be with, funny to be with and they get the work done. They’re very industrious, and sometimes have good ideas. Not often, but sometimes.” He added that the reason Alpha Books has managed to survive is the adaptability that they have shown: adapting to the weather, to new locations, to new expectations, and to changes in the courses at LSE.
Simon explained that now that Waterstones is gone, there’s more expectations placed upon Alpha Books, which is sometimes hard to meet. “I felt that even when Waterstones was here, and I was very sad to see it go. They’ve been here for 30 years. They had a big history.”
For Simon, there are two elements to second-hand bookshops. “It’s like a museum in the sense that it calls on past authors, authors long dead who produced important work. And on the other hand, there is trying to stock newer authors and more current contemporary thinkers as well. So, there is both the past and the present.”
Simon added something that personally made me very happy. “I’m always pleased to stock a small percentage of early or first novels by contemporary writers.” He explained that despite being a place that relies on classics, it’s very important to introduce first novels. “It’s important for the sake of writing for the present and into the future.”
“New writing is risky. New writing is like the salmon swimming upstream. It’s difficult. A lot of work goes into writing of any kind. And so if we can, occasionally, as we can’t do it very often, introduce unknown contemporary writers, it’s great.” Simon explained that people gravitate towards books with names that they know. If he can get them off the beaten track and sometimes try a new writer, it can be quite interesting.
“It does have risk, but it should be a risk that we encourage in an increasingly monetized culture. A monetized culture is not necessarily the best friend of real innovation.”
“My mother thought up the name Alpha Books. She was a great crossword puzzle-doer and wordsmith, she loved language.” As Simon spoke fondly of his mother, he explained that she was amused by the use to which we put language, which is a trait he believes to have inherited. “Language is mutable, it changes. It’s something quite special.” When his mother offered the idea of Alpha, he thought that it was great. “It’s got a great connotation and it’s the beginning of the alphabet. If you shop and come anywhere near Alpha books, perhaps your chances of getting a first are increased.”
As we reached the end of our conversation, Simon explained that his main goal now going forward is seeing the shop go on. “I think we’ve been here long enough to make our case.” As I asked if he sees himself continuing to work for a long time, I could see the determination in his eyes as he answered “I am. Much of my life has been spent here. And I’m very fond of the LSE for all sorts of reasons. It’s been very good to me and it’s been very supportive of me. I can say to you two things. I continue to float face up. And as to my continuing here, I can only say watch the skies.”
