We are a small ethical* children's specialist bookseller, running bookfairs in schools in Leicestershire and surrounding areas from our base in Desford. We hope to soon share some of the space in Leicester Wholefood Co-operative's Freehold Street premises, which will become the centre of our day to day operation.

We need to recruit staff to expand our activities, and function more efficiently. The jobs we fill will be dependent on the applications received, and will be in the following areas:

Administrative Assistant - working at Freehold Street handling book deliveries, book stock, and the logistics associated with the bookfairs. There will also be contact with customers who may visit Freehold Street to view books by appointment in the week, or throughout the day on Saturday. We currently envisage the working week comprising of Monday afternoon, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and   Saturday. The job could be shared between two part time employees. An appreciation of the value of books is essential, while familiarity with using computers would be helpful.

Booksellers - for the school bookfairs, paid for each bookfair they undertake. Currently the second half of each term is very busy, with bookfairs daily, but other periods are much quieter. However  as business builds we see the booksellers being occupied for most of the school terms. The bookseller will travel to schools where a comprehensive bookshop will have been set up (see the job below) with at least 2000 top quality children's books. Bookfairs either run for a single day from 8.30am to 4.00pm, or are split running from 1.45pm to 4.00pm of one day, and 8.30am to 10.00am the following. The bookseller will run the bookshop while classes visit and teachers browse. The bookseller must like and feel confident dealing with children and young people, and be willing to read stories to Nursery, Reception, and Year 1 (aged up to 6) children. Familiarity with using computers would be helpful, and resistance to pressure when faced with a queue of parents, children, and teachers is essential.

"...the Roustabout who moves the show at dawn..." (from There's No Business Like Show Business by Irving Berlin). We can't think of a better name for the person who gets up very early and drives a van loaded with over half a tonne of equipment and books to a school, unloads it into the school, and sets up the bookshop for the bookfair. Then later in the day they return to take it down and bring it back to the Freehold Street base, where the displays  of books may need reorganising to meet different schools' requirements. This process can happen twice a day. Additionally the roustabout will run a computerised point of sale to help busy booksellers. The job clearly needs someone who is fit, resourceful, and relishes variety!

Pay and conditions - We want to remunerate our employees properly, meet their expenses, and provide good holiday and other benefits. Like all small businesses we face commercial pressures, but we hope to offer satisfying rewards, to what we think you will find satisfying work.

Training - We will give full training to all employees, and where appropriate send employees on courses arranged with the Booksellers Association.

Checks - Because we work with children and young people, all employees will be subject to appropriate checks.

Interested?
THEN call 01455 822192 and leave your number - we'll get back to you.
OR write to us at Roving Books Ltd., 3 Kirkby Road, Desford, Leicester, LE9 9GL.
OR email us

* Because of the work we do with challenged schools, we have been accepted by Triodos Bank as creating social value. We also try to operate in an environmentally friendly way.