Mairi’s career as a bookseller has taken her around the world over the last ten years. We caught up with Mairi to find out how her passion for books and belief in the power of the written word to change the world led to an unexpected career as the owner of Lighthouse - Edinburgh’s Radical Bookshop.

Mairi has always loved books but never expected to make a career of her passion.  She volunteered in a charity bookshop while studying before taking her first job selling books in Australia. Since then she has worked for different independent bookshops around Scotland. When the owner of Word Power Books was looking to retire Mairi jumped at the opportunity of running her very own bookshop. In 2017 she bought the shop and renamed it Lighthouse - although the bookshop itself was already 23 years old, in many ways they are just at the start of their journey.

To be a successful bookseller a passion for books is essential. But it’s not just about loving books; you need to love talking about books, sharing that passion with other readers. People expect you to have a broad range of knowledge and will seek out your views about books on social media as well in person at the store.

The Lighthouse has a social mission which underpins all the work they do through the store, online and at their regular events. Among the many initiatives tied to this social mission, they have run accessible book fairs and offer internships for BAME book lovers as a first step into careers working with books.

Although there’s a familiar rhythm to the working week there are always new challenges and no two weeks are the same. The day to day work of running the shop includes lots of unpacking, shelving and sales, as well as maintaining an active social media presence and delivering a busy schedule of events. Innovation is vital for a bookshop to survive in a world of online giants, especially where social values and a passionate belief in the transformative power of books underpin all their decisions. For Mairi being a bookseller is the best job in the world!