Individual Bookseller of the Year 2025
Individual Bookseller of the Year Winner and Shortlist
The Individual Bookseller of the Year Award always produces one of the most inspiring of the Nibbies shortlists. While others recognise the creators, this one celebrates nine heroes of the shop floor who actually get books into the hands of readers. All but two are shortlisted for the first time, and all but one work at independent bookshops. Four are children’s specialists, and several have done superb work in diversifying shelves and attracting people to books for the first time.
Winner
Carolynn Bain
Afrori Books
Carolynn Bain is the Individual Bookseller of the Year for the second time in three years, after a phenomenal weight of work for her community, authors, diversity and freedom of speech.
Bain has made Afrori Books in Brighton as much a cultural and social movement as a bookshop. At the core is support for Black authors, delivered through great range, service, sell-out in-store and online events, book groups and collaborations with writers and publishers. She has transformed the store from an add-on to a community centre into a standalone bookshop, giving it a profile far beyond Brighton. It is a heartening commercial success too, significantly growing sales in 2024.
On top of her day-to-day bookselling in 2024, Bain was – deep breath – a guest on more than 20 TV and radio shows and podcasts, speaker at as many events, poetry competition judge, university board member, cook and host of an at-home supper and book club and leader of the Anti-Racist Kids Club. Afrori became an even brighter beacon for inclusion and tolerance last summer when it was targeted by right-wing protesters, defiantly staying open and attracting hundreds of supporters to defend the shop.
Judges said: “Carolynn’s commitment to bookselling is off the scale. She’s made Afrori a symbol of freedom of speech… she’s a goddess.”
The Shortlist
Carolynn Bain
Afrori Books
Carolynn Bain was the 2023 Individual Bookseller of the Year, and since then she’s built Brighton’s Afrori Books into not just a sustainable bookshop but a safe space and cultural force. It does a phenomenal amount for Black authors via events, clubs, partnerships and outreach. Bain has also been an evangelist for books beyond her shop in TV, radio, podcast and event appearances.
Sanchita Basu De Sarkar
The Children's Bookshop
Sanchita Basu De Sarkar led The Children's Bookshop in London’s Muswell Hill to the title of Book Retailer of the Year at the last Nibbies, and the shop had a superb 50th anniversary year in 2024. As well as being an outstanding buyer, handseller and events manager, she co-founded SailFest, a new showcase for South Asian writers and illustrators, and was named at honorary fellow by the Royal Society of Literature.
Keisha Ehigie
Imagine Me Stories
Keisha Ehigie is founder of Imagine Me Stories, the subscription service that provides children with books with Black characters. In 2024 it stepped up its partnerships with schools and nurseries to diversify libraries and improve representation of their children. It’s important work that has received widespread gratitude and is now achieving well-deserved commercial value.
Aileen Marr
Mostly Books
Alongside shop floor work, events were a big part of Aileen Marr’s great year at Oxfordshire indie Mostly Books. A breakfast opening for Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, a bookshop lock-in and a ‘Boozy Books’ cocktail night were part of an imaginative programme alongside more conventional author visits. There was lots for younger people too, including book clubs and two days of children’s bookshop ‘takeovers’.
Annie Martin
Waterstones
Waterstones’ head of visual merchandising Annie Martin shows the huge importance of displays in bookselling. Her compelling promos at the flagship Piccadilly branch have led to her working with teams across the estate, and her standout displays in 2024 included installations for Paddington, the Booker and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. All her work correlates with big spikes in sales.
Callum Mcallister
Storysmith
Callum McAllister is head bookseller at Storysmith in Bristol, the 2025 South West England Independent Bookshop of the Year. He’s been a big champion of authors and independent publishers, and threw the shop behind Rita Bullwinkel’s Headshot. On top of that in 2024 he led his own book club, an overhaul of the shop’s website and its decamp to the End of the Road festival as official bookseller.
Eleanor McKnight
Maldon Books
Eleanor McKnight is one of the youngest stars of independent bookselling, having joined Maldon Books in Essex aged 18. As well as day-to-day book buying, selling and events management she provides the shop’s popular TikTok content, including recommendations and day-in-the-life clips. She’s also behind its ‘Blind date with a book’ scheme and designs her own bookmarks.
Helen Tamblyn-Saville
Wonderland
Helen Tamblyn-Saville, owner of the Wonderland Bookshop in Retford, is shortlisted for the fourth year in a row. She’s transformed the shop into a destination since taking charge and been a big advocate for children’s literature—not just through Wonderland but in the media and industry. “Helen is more than a bookseller—she’s a tireless champion of authors,” said one visiting writer.
Kirsty Woods
Kibworth Books
Kirsty Woods has made Kibworth Books’ dedicated Children’s Room a haven for reading. She steered work with several dozen schools and hosted events like ‘Book and a Biscuit’ reading times in 2024. Perhaps her proudest achievements were two charitable projects: a fundraiser to get more books into children’s hospitals and a Community Secret Santa supplying gifts for vulnerable and cared-for locals.
