Bookselling Ireland (the Booksellers Association (BA) in Ireland) are delighted to announce the ambassadors for Independent Bookshop Week 2026, which this year marks its 20th anniversary.
The annual celebration, taking place from the 13th June – 20th June 2026, highlights the invaluable role independent bookshops across Ireland and the UK and play in local communities and national culture.
Returning with headline sponsorship from Hachette UK, and with additional support from NielsenIQ BookData and Gardners Books, Independent Bookshop Week 2026 will once again champion the cultural, economic and social value of independent bookshops – inspiring readers to shop locally, the book trade to provide tangible support, and government to engage with the sector on policy.
The ambassadors for Independent Bookshop Week 2026 are Kit de Waal, whose debut My Name Is Leon won the ‘Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year’ and was later adapted for BBC television, and whose latest novel is The Best of Everything (Tinder Press); Katriona O’Sullivan, author of the bestselling memoir Poor, winner of ‘Biography of the Year’ and ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at the Irish Book Awards, whose new book is Hungry (Hachette Ireland); and Katie Clapham, award-winning bookseller and co-founder of Storytellers Inc., winner of ‘Independent Bookshop of the Year (North England)’ at the British Book Awards in 2013, whose new book is Receipts from the Bookshop (Phoenix).
Founded in 2006, Independent Bookshop Week is one of the flagship moments in the Books Are My Bag calendar of consumer campaigns celebrating bookshops of all shapes and sizes across Ireland and the UK. The week brings together booksellers, readers, authors and publishers to celebrate the distinctive role independent bookshops play in reading for pleasure, distributing the creative industries and connecting local communities.
Independent bookshops participating in the campaign also received printed point of sale kits from Bookselling Ireland, containing bunting, posters, bookmarks, postcards and shelf strips, alongside a suite of digital assets available in English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish.
Further details on Independent Bookshop Week 2026 activity will be announced in due course.
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Marketing and Communications at the Booksellers Association, said: “Independent Bookshop Week is about celebrating the extraordinary impact of independent bookshops with the energy and visibility they deserve. Last year’s campaign showed that the importance of independent bookshops is more evident than ever, with record participation, standout media coverage and brilliant engagement from readers, authors, publishers and partners.
In 2026, with the National Year of Reading creating even more momentum, we want to build on that success and remind people that independent bookshops are not just places to buy books – they are vital cultural spaces, community hubs and engines of reading for pleasure. At the same time, celebration must go hand in hand with advocacy, which is why continuing to make the case on business rates and other retail pressures remains so important.”
Cian Byrne, from Maynooth Bookshop & Chair of Bookselling Ireland, commented, “Every independent bookshop you walk into is unique. They are curated by booksellers who are embedded in their communities and reflect the personalities and interests of their customers. Independent bookshop week is a moment to shine a light on the service bookshops provide year-round; and for readers in every village, town, and city that have one to show their appreciation by paying their local bookshop a visit. Maynooth Bookshop will be leading our own celebrations with an event with one of the Independent Bookshop Week ambassadors, Katriona O’Sullivan.”
Katie Espiner, CEO of Adult Trade divisions at Hachette UK, said: “We are so proud to continue our happy partnership as headline sponsor of Independent Bookshop Week, which marks its 20th anniversary in the same year that Hachette celebrates our 200th anniversary. In the National Year of Reading, and as we launch our own Raising Readers initiative, we are dedicated to continuing our support of independent bookshops and booksellers, who are such a vital part of so many communities, and who play such a pivotal role in bringing people together through the power of reading.”
Kit de Waal said: “Independent bookshops bring people together at the counter, at events, in those long, unexpected conversations and that sense of connection is as nourishing as the books themselves. For authors, new or established, an independent bookshop is often the first place someone presses your work into a reader’s hands and says, “You’ll love this,” which is the best publicity you can get. Above all, independent bookshops quietly protect the simple joy of reading for pleasure: the browsing, the discovery, the feeling of walking out with a story you didn’t know you needed until someone who loves books put it in your path.”
Katriona O’Sullivan said: ‘Independent bookshops may be small, but they often do big things! They keep brilliant stories alive, choose books with care, and are the places where stories like mine get a chance to shine. Support your independent bookshop this week, and every week.”
Katie Clapham said: ‘As a writer, bookseller, bookshop-owner and overall bookshop enthusiast, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be an ambassador for IBW this year. I truly love independent bookshops; from the chic and glossy to the humble and chaotic; each of them are important to their community and vital to our society, and all of them are completely magnificent to me.’