The end of an era
Mark Rubbo chats with Desiree Boardman, Readings Hawthorn’s beloved manager of almost three decades, ahead of her much-deserved retirement.
Desi chuckles when I catch up with her in the lead up to her last weeks as manager of Readings Hawthorn, a role she has held for 27 years. Desi came to Australia from Sri Lanka in 1972, when she was 15. Life in Sri Lanka had been comfortable, with a big house in central Colombo and servants who helped to look after the family. Ten years later Desi, as a single mum with two children, cleaned houses to make ends meet.
‘Ironic, wasn’t it?’ she comments, but without any regrets.
After leaving school, she’d worked in various admin jobs. Her mum had got a job in the accounts department at the RMIT bookshop; it had recently relocated to a prominent position on the corner of Swanston and Latrobe Streets and had just put in a general, non-academic book section. They needed someone to look after that area on Saturdays and Desi put up her hand.
‘I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,’ she says.
As a kid in Sri Lanka, with no TV, books had been her great comfort. As the general books section at the RMIT bookshop grew, Desi kept putting up her hand for more work; she ended up responsible for the entire general book section. In those days, RMIT was known for its strong courses in the visual arts and architecture.
‘We had a lot of great books in those fields and that brought in a whole range of customers from around town.’
Over her 10 years at RMIT, Desi learned everything she could about the book trade. She’d found her calling, but the direction of the shop was changing and when she was approached by Readings in 1997 to take up the role of manager at Readings Hawthorn, she jumped at the chance.
‘I’d always admired Readings; my friends and I often went to Carlton to visit Readings, so this was a great opportunity.’
She visited the Hawthorn shop several times before starting in the job and thought it was a bit messy and needed work.
‘I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.’
She loved the new challenge and loved the customers; they were all big readers and she formed many relationships that have lasted over the years. The work she and her team put into the shop paid off and Desi began to run out of room to put all her different ideas into practice. Shortly after Desi started, the Carlton shop moved to bigger premises. The move was so successful that when a large site became available in Hawthorn, we grabbed it and Desi suddenly had a much bigger job.
‘I’ve always liked a bit of a challenge and when things start to get settled, I like to try something else. We started our book clubs, we had poetry readings, classical music appreciation nights, movie nights and of course we were now able to do events.’
Upwards of 250 people crammed into the shop to hear people such as Junot Diaz, Michael Palin and P.D. James talk about their books.
‘Alex Miller always had his launches at Readings Hawthorn. We became a real cultural hub for Hawthorn,’ Desi reflects.
I ask Desi if there was an event that really stood out; without hesitation, she mentions the night of a joint event with married couple Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt as particularly special, the memory made even more poignant by Auster’s recent passing.
Now Readings Hawthorn has moved again, just a short distance along Glenferrie Road into a beautiful historic building near the Lido Cinema. Desi loves the new space, which is lovely to be in and move around within.
‘I’m constantly surprised and delighted,’ she says.
Desi’s customers are adapting to the change and she’s also seeing a lot of new people. She’s particularly pleased by the increased diversity and the number of younger customers. There isn’t space to host the very large events anymore, but the team has returned to partnering with the Lido for big events, as they used to 25 years ago. She’s pleased that they now have a dedicated children’s space and excited to see how it’s been embraced.
Over the years, the industry has changed. One thing that hasn’t changed for Desi is that bookselling has always been about the physical space and the interactions between customers and staff.
‘Our customers have always been very loyal. I just love having those conversations about books, recommending books, having customers tell me about books I don’t know. Every day is a highlight.’
I’ve been very privileged to have worked with Desi for the last 27 years. She is a great bookseller, committed to the idea that bookshops are important spaces for communities. Although things are challenging for bookshops at the moment, Desi believes they’ll last.
‘You know, Mark, they have to.’
