The Heart of the High Street
Established in 1963, David’s Bookshop, Music & Café is located on Eastcheap, in Letchworth, the world’s first Garden City.
Alongside the launch of our updated website, we are very proud and excited to announce that we now have an online Bookshop! Our primary focus will always be our actual bookshop, but we recognise there is a growing demand from our customers for online shopping – which we are now able to satisfy. To view our online stock, please take a look at our ‘Shop’ – books can either be ordered for delivery or collected in store. We’d really like to hear your views on what you think of the new website and also what you liked (and maybe didn’t like) about the online shop. If you can’t find what you want in the online shop – just contact us in the usual way and we’ll do our best to find the book for you.
As a large independent business, David’s has always been at the heart of the local community. In 2020, it became an Employee Owned Trust company, further enhancing it’s collaborative nature. Patrons and staff alike are passionate about the past, present, and future of David’s, and a loyal energy runs through the core of our shop. Our staff members collectively have over 75 years experience at David’s, with a wealth of knowledge in the books, music, and the gaming industry. We do our best to be part of the community; working with schools, taking part in town centre events and initiatives, organising events for ‘gamers’, and supporting local book fairs. We are also extremely pleased to work in collaboration with Groundswell Agriculture, taking part in their annual summer show and providing a selection of related books which can be found here.
We have hosted a full programme of author events, both in shop and in the local community. Recent visitors have included Cressida Cowell, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Nicholas Crane and Joanne Harris (among others). During the general disruption of the last 2 years, we have been able to sustain our efforts through online events but are now really pleased to be able to offer ‘in person’ visits from authors. For more details, visit our events page here.
David’s caters to a large audience: our bookshop offers a large second-hand department on the upper floor and at the back of the ground floor, quirky cards and gifts, an eclectic role playing games collection, new and classic board games, a varied ‘bargains’ area full of half price new books, as well as our new titles offerings. The long-standing record store is an excellent shop connected to books, selling new and second-hand records, CDs and DVDs. We also have a range of online options to buy new books, antiquarian books and music. Our café (due to reopen early Spring 2022) is a peaceful place to meet friends, relax with a book, or try one of our famous home made sweet or savoury scones.
Shopping at David’s
From Thursday 27th Jan 2022:
Despite Covid restrictions being lifted on the 27th we have made the decision that you will still be required to wear a face covering while visiting David’s for the time being. While the Government say you do not have to do so, we have decided, after careful consideration, that if you want to come and see us you will have to wear a mask. Many of our staff have not yet had their booster and are primarily in the age group at most risk. Whilst Covid cases remain high locally we feel that this is the correct decision. We also ask that you continue to use the hand sanitiser provided and give staff and other shoppers space. If our ability to come into the shop and serve, manage online orders and ship them out becomes compromised, we would have further and more difficult decisions to make. It is great that we are open 7 days a week again and we want to keep it that way without any further interruptions. You are all used to wearing face masks inside now so hopefully it isn’t too much to ask to keep us all safe for a bit longer. We will continue to watch the figures over the coming weeks and months and will make any changes to this policy only when we feel it is safe to do so.
Thank you all for your understanding.
We now have a Patreon scheme for the bookshop – click below.
