For those in dismay at the prospect of wet, dark evenings and social isolation this fall, a luxury desert island resort in the Maldives is looking for a live-in bookseller to start working next month.
The eco-resort of Soneva Fushi, on Kunfunadhoo Island in the Maldives, has played host to three “barefoot booksellers” since 2018: The most recent occupant, Chrissy Ryan, left in April as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world.
TOURISM REOPENING
With the Maldives now reopening to international tourists, Soneva Fushi is in need of a bookseller to run a small shop on the private island, with the working contract set to run from the end of next month until April next year.
“The Maldives is pretty much COVID-free and the resort that we operate with has its own medical center, and strict and rigorous testing procedures, so it’s a very safe place to be,”said Philip Blackwell, the chief executive of Ultimate Library, which runs the bookshop and provides library collections for holiday destinations around the world.
“They’re expecting people to come, and we are minded to take the punt to reopen our bookshop and see what passing trade comes our way,” he added.
When the position of “barefoot bookseller” was previously advertised, Blackwell received thousands of applications from people desperate to escape the grind of daily life.
“Last time, we had everybody from the White House press corps to film directors, lawyers, IT managers, beach poets, retired librarians,” said Blackwell, who is a member of the British family of booksellers that sold their chain in 2006.
“What works best is somebody with bookselling experience. They’ve got to love people and selling books, and they’ve got to know about books,” Blackwell said.
ADVENTURER NEEDED
“They’ve also got to be adventurous because this is not for somebody to sit in a bookshop eight hours a day, this is for people to get out there, engage with the guests and help people on their reading journey, because reading for pleasure is a muscle that, like any other muscle in the body, is traditionally underused until people go on holiday,” Blackwell added.
The job application calls for “excellent written and verbal English skills; a lively tone of voice to write entertaining blogs and newsletters that capture the exhilarating life of a desert island bookseller; and the skills to host workshops and events.”
Job applicants would also need “a can-do attitude with a strong understanding of working independently,” the job description says.
TRAINING FIRST
Whoever is selected is to undergo job training remotely before flying to the Maldives.
“They’ll have sand between their toes rather than slush between their feet, and the chance to really test themselves,” Blackwell said.
Writing on the Barefoot Bookseller blog, Ryan said that her time in the Maldives had been “a whirlwind of adventure where I have developed new passions, discovered new skills and built new friendships.”
“I’ve moved 6,000 miles [9,656km] across the planet, left my friends and family behind me and found a whole new community on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I’ve tested my boundaries and rediscovered my sense of self,” Ryan wrote.
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