Budding Booksellers: Poppy Connor-Slater

The ABA Educational Trust Traineeship Scheme offers financial and tutorial support to an ABA member to hire a trainee. While working for the ABA member, the trainee follows a two-year course based on a curriculum devised and monitored by the ABA Educational Trust, ensuring that they gain experience in all aspects of the trade. The aim is that, by the end of the course, the successful trainee can be considered a competent junior bookseller. We are delighted to share these experiences from three recent participants in the traineeship scheme.

When I started my traineeship at Lucius Books I knew nothing about the book trade, and only a little about rare books in general. However, this quickly changed as I began to learn about the daily tasks involved in the running of a book shop such as cataloguing, fulfilling orders, shelving books, dressing the window, assisting customers, and managing social media accounts. I have also had the opportunity to help create catalogues, represent Lucius Books at book fairs, view auctions, and learn about buying books from the public. The traineeship and the Educational Trust offered a useful structure and support system for my education in rare books, helping me to lay out clear goals and to locate holes in my knowledge.

Through exposure to the many various tasks and all the fascinating books that the job involves, I was soon able to identify the areas which excite me most, which are women’s writing and pre-1970 illustrated children’s books. Another aspect of the trade I am interested in is the potential for attracting more young female customers to the world of rare books, as I feel that this is an under-represented demographic. Having learned so much while working with rare books (and I continue to learn new things every day!) I hope that my enthusiasm for these topics will in turn bring something valuable to Lucius Books and to the trade.

Find out more about the ABA Educational Trust here.