Have your say: Does Gladstone need a new book store?

A Gladstone man who started a poll about the potential for a book store in town said he was overwhelmed by the response.

Gladstone resident Julian Goh said he was overwhelmed by the response to his poll on a local open discussion forum, which registered just shy of 500 votes.

FOLLOWING the closure of Dymocks Book Store at Kin Kora Mall in August 2006, Gladstone bookworms have gone without a flagship retailer.

A local resident’s poll on Gladstone Open Discussion could set the wheels in motion to change that, with Julian Goh dreaming of a book retailer opening here.

“For me personally, I have always been into books and I kind of thought to myself ‘what can I do today to bring the joy readings gives me to Gladstone?’,” Mr Goh said.

“My overall vision is that we live in a world where we have unlimited access to information, but there is almost too much of it.

“How do we find information which is good, true and useful? That question brought me back to books that have withstood the test of time.”

Mr Goh said he was unsure of which group or organisation he is better off attracting the attention of to launch his book store dream.
“I don’t really plan on catering for a specific age group, but more so anyone who is curious about learning,” he said.

Mr Goh said every town deserves to have a book store and Gladstone is no different.

“Not only because of access to books, but because book stores act as a hub that the community will create which is really valuable,” he said.

The community tended to agree with Mr Goh’s sentiments and posted messages of support on the poll, which received 487 votes.

“It would be wonderful to have a real bookshop here,” Allison Hutton said.

“Then I would not have to go to Rocky or Bundy to buy books.”