A book town is a town or village with many used book or antiquarian bookstores. These stores, as well as literary festivals, attract bibliophile tourists. Some book towns are members of the International Organisation of Book Towns. List of book towns Book towns with known dates of operation Kaifeng, China (17th century) Jinbōchō, Japan (early 1880s) Hay-on-Wye, Wales (1961) Redu, Belgium (1984) Bécherel, France (1988) Montolieu, France (1989) Bredevoort, Netherlands (1993) Saint-Pierre-de-Clages, Switzerland (1993) Fontenoy-la-Joûte, France (1993) Mundal, Norway (1995) Wigtown, Scotland (1997) Zossen-Wünsdorf, Germany (1997) Damme, Belgium (1997) Dalmellington, Scotland (1997, though the last bookseller closed in 2005 and the project has folded.) Sysmä, Finland (4 July 1997) Mühlbeck-Friedersdorf, Germany (1997) Kampung Buku Langkawi, Malaysia (3 December 1997) Archer City, U.S. (1999) Montmorillon, France (2000) Southern Highlands, Australia (2000) Mellösa, Sweden (2001) Tvedestrand, Norway (2003) Sedbergh, England (2003) Blaenavon, Wales (28 June 2003, though the project had folded by March 2006.) Brownville, U.S. (2004) Hobart, U.S. – Book Village of the Catskills (2005) Atherstone, England (2005) Torup, Denmark (2006) Richmond, South Africa (2006) Kampung Buku Melaka, Malaysia (17 April 2007) Urueña, Spain (2007) Bellprat, Spain (2008) Esquelbecq, France (2010) Borrby, Sweden (17 July 2011) Clunes, Australia (2012) Montereggio, Mulazzo, Italy Óbidos, Portugal (2015) Featherston, New Zealand (2015) Cervera, Spain (2016) Montblanc, Spain (2017) Bhilar, India (2017) La Pobla de Segur, Spain (2018) L'Escala, Spain (2019) Book towns with unknown dates of operation Sidney, Canada Gold Cities BookTown, Grass Valley, U.S. See also UNESCO World Book Capital (est. 2001) References External links International Organisation of Book Towns Catalonia Organisation of Book Towns Literary festivals Bookstores Bookselling Types of towns