Need for cash led to new chapter for book-loving young dad
Lifestyle - A Claregalway company specialising in antiquarian and out-of-print books has developed a worldwide market for its rare publications. Owner Jim Shaughnessy tells STEPHEN GLENNON that focusing on high-quality editions and unusual collections has allowed MW Books to create its own unique niche.
On these winter mornings, it can be a struggle to get out of bed for many, yet not so for Renmore native Jim Shaughnessy of MW Books in Claregalway. For the antique and first edition books specialist, he has 250,000 reasons to rise and shine and embrace a new day.
Jim’s story is a remarkable one. Having traded books as a collector of 20th century literature for some years and working in several jobs previously, including at Kenny’s Books, Jim ventured into the world of bookselling in 2005.
“My first daughter (Eva) was born 16 years ago and I had that kind of naïve, romantic, young father moment in that I wanted to spend a load of time with her. So, I packed in what I was doing but, then, after a few months, the bills started piling up.
“All I knew at the time was books. At first, it was an opportunity to trade a bit, initially from my own collection, but then it became a necessity in terms of the family. So, I started to take it a bit more seriously. I started with book one and, today, we have 250,000 live stock items,” says the father-of-two. (His other daughter is Tess, 13.)
Looking over the warehouse floor in Lydican is a sight to behold. For any book-lover, it’s quite possibly the closest thing to heaven you’ll get. Jim smiles at the notion. He says it has taken time to get his online business to this point.
“It is such a rapidly competitive marketplace, we really had to sculpt out a niche for ourselves. It is not just the range of materials but more specifically, the quality. We pay a premium price for our better-condition copies and we actively go after more unusual collections and libraries, just to try to set us apart from what everyone else is doing.
“That seems to have worked out, that kind of specific approach, but it takes time. We are kind of an overnight success after 15 or 16 years,” says the UCG graduate and post-graduate (Masters in English).
He explains that the ‘MW’ in the company name are nicknames – which he doesn’t divulge! – between his wife Annemarie and himself.
“It was never intended to be what it is,” he says. “Originally, when we started trading to make some cash, I needed a name and, jokingly, we put MW on it.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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