Tea in the Library

Annette was born and raised in Tasmania (aren't all the best people?) and gained her first two degrees at the Australian National University in Canberra, and her postgraduate degree at University of Technology Sydney. Apart from looking after her clients all around the world, Annette has also borne and raised three now-grown children, been married and divorced (but only once each), and dreamt a lot of dreams. If she had her time over, she would attempt Tea In The Library all over again, changing only about a hundred things.

Published in Australia by Sid Harta Publishers Pty Ltd, 

 ABN: 46 119 415 842 23 

Stirling Crescent, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150, Australia 

Telephone: 61 9560 9920, Facsimile: 61 9545 1742 

E-mail: [email protected]

First published in Australia 2007

This edition published 2008

Copyright © Annette Freeman 2007

Cover design, typesetting: Chameleon Print Design

The right of Annette Freeman to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,  in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Tea In The Library

Freeman, Annette.

ISBN: 978-1-921206-48-1

Digital Editions published By

Port campbell Press

www.portcampbellpress.com.au

ISBN: 9781742980096 (Epub)

This is a true story, as accurate as I could make it, allowing for my possibly faulty memory, and for things which may have been going on and me none the wiser.

In some cases I have changed names to protect the privacy of individuals (whether they deserve that consideration or not), but in others I have left first names as the ones I know and remember fondly.

I especially acknowledge the lovely photographs of the shop taken by Peter Bateman of Bateman Photographic Group.

Welcome to the story of my dream that became a reality — a bookshop café that briefly lit up the Sydney literary and café scene. The genesis of the dream is more or less lost in the mists of time, although I have always had a passion for books and recently acquired a penchant for adventure.

“Tea In The Library” was a bookshop café that became my passion and my burden. It was a far cry from the rest of my organized, professional life. I am a Sydney trade marks lawyer, who for many complicated and shadowy reasons decided to stop dreaming and start acting on her vision of a cosy bookshop full of interesting and eclectic titles, that served great coffee and specialty teas, and that hosted literary events, discussion groups and bookclubs — a meeting place for like-minded souls in the heart of a big city.

However, it is one thing to dream and another to know what you are doing. Tea In The Library lasted for about eighteen action-packed months, but in the end was undone. This is the story of those eighteen months. It focuses candidly on the mistakes made and explores — hopefully with a sense of humour! — what might have been done differently. On the way we meet an eccentric cast of characters and find out what goes on behind the scenes of a gallant small business with big ideas and no experience in retail. There are funny stories and sad stories, and lots of information about what
not
to do.

“How hard can it be to run a successful small business?” I asked. “People do it every day. It can't be rocket science.” We find the answer to that question, and it is sobering news for those wannabe bookshop or café owners out there.

I have worked for almost thirty years as a trade marks lawyer with the same Sydney firm, where I have been a partner for the last ten years. The stories I could tell about that! But John Grisham has already been there. So I have chosen to write about my dream which became a reality and then went bust, candidly exposing my faults and mistakes, for the reader's enjoyment and education, plus a few laughs. As to my experience and qualifications for entering the retail/hospitality industry, they were slim. I was born and raised in Tasmania (aren't all the best people?) and gained my first two degrees at the Australian National University in Canberra, and my postgraduate degree at University of Technology Sydney. Somewhat presciently, my first degree was a Bachelor of Arts with a major in — yes — English Literature. I knew that would come in handy one day. Apart from looking after my clients all around the world, I have also borne and raised three now-grown children, been married and divorced (but only once each), and dreamt a lot of dreams. If I had my time over, I would attempt Tea In The Library all over again, changing only about a hundred things.

This book is principally a memoir about my experiences with the Tea In The Library adventure, the people I met along the way, friends and enemies made, and lessons learnt. There were many — lessons and friends, anyway! As you will find, I am wildly passionate about books and their value. But there are lessons in this story for those considering a foray into any small business, and you will find some “how to” (or in many cases “how not to”) information along the way.

It is an exploration of motivations and experiences and ultimately learning the value of moving outside your comfort zone occasionally, looking for challenges, and staying focused on your goals. It is about the personal — and sometimes literal — mountains I have climbed, or at least dreamed of climbing.

Happy reading!

What a great idea!

I was sitting with a friend having coffee one day, and discussing a favorite topic — bookshops I have known and loved. In particular, I had recently enjoyed what was a fairly new phenomenon at that time — bookshops that also served tea and coffee and little snacks.

Despite having first come across this excellent improvement on an already indispensable institution in the USA, it in fact reminded me rather of things British. In particular, the idea of sipping tea among the books transported me to the drawing room of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, or the country house library of the Earl of Emsworth in P G Wodehouse's hilarious send-ups.

“It's just like having tea in the library!” I enthused to my friend.

There were shades of East Coast USA upper crust life too. I recalled visiting the library of the exclusive Washington Club in DC (for a private reception — I doubt they'd let me past the door otherwise), and being once again transported by the tall walls of books, the deep leather armchairs, the lamps, drapes, dusty back-copies of journals, the SILENCE sign. They didn't seem to serve tea there, but I expect you could have ordered a nice dry sherry. Both are certainly available in The Coffee Club, a private New York establishment where deep armchairs and communal-style meals along a refectory table are the backdrop for chance meetings and lively discussions with writers, dissenters, progressives, reactionaries, and other assorted citizens interested in thinking and talking about life, the world and community.

I was describing the concept of sitting among the books and enjoying afternoon tea, with walls of books about one, to a much younger woman one day. After contemplating my description, a light bulb illuminated over her head — “Like Bruce Wayne's Manor!” she said. Exactly!

Somewhere around this time a small kernel of an idea lodged in my subconscious and gradually worked its way into the daylight. As I went about my daily life, doing the job I had done for twenty-plus years, looking after my home and family, contemplating life and the universe, as one does in mid-life, “the idea” was like the pea under the princess's ten mattresses — I knew something was there. I could feel it.

If I had a dollar each for all the people who have confided to me that they would love to own a bookshop café — sometimes whispering as if they were ashamed of such a dumb idea; sometimes disappointed, as if I had beaten them to the punch — well, I'd be able to go on selling books for fifty years! I sure wasn't Robinson Crusoe with this idea. But on the other hand, there are only a select few crazy people who have actually acted on it. (We'll meet some of them later.)

Dreams have a way of sneaking up on you unexpectedly. I've tried to understand why this Great Idea revealed itself to me at this particular time. And why and how I was actually able to bring Tea In The Library to living, breathing reality. In particular I've asked myself why didn't it last? My home town, a small Tasmanian town which hasn't grown much since the days when I grew up there — it may even have shrunk — did not possess a bookshop. It still doesn't, although you can probably pick up a pot-boiler or
Harry Potter
at the news agency. So why books?

And was it just coincidence that at this time of my life I also became passionate about visiting remote areas of the world on adventure trips, for the thrill of gazing upon the highest mountains in the world? Tasmania has a few rugged hills, but it is hardly the South Island of New Zealand. But during these years I had developed a growing ambition to see the high Himalaya. Now, to put this in context — at school I was always the last shivering little figure in baggy white shorts to be picked for the team on sports day. My mother, bless her, would let me sneak home on sports afternoons in high school. When a careers aptitude test at school returned results which showed a marked interest in “the outdoors”, my family laughed and said there must have been something wrong with the test. Apart from the odd bush walk and an unsuccessful camping trip (think serious sunburn and longings for the motel), I had not led an outdoors life by any stretch of the imagination. Nor was I particularly fit. I had a sedentary job, played no sport and was about 10 kilos overweight.