Is that a library in the shop?

Who says people aren't reading these days? Interest in books is as great as ever — and London department store Selfridges is hoping to prove it with a seven-week event devoted to the printed word.

From now until 1 March 2012, visitors to the Oxford Street location will find a 15,000-book library on 325 square metres of the shop's lower level. There they can read whatever they like from the library's collection — on paper and on iPads — as well as listen to audiobooks.

The space is also being used as a backdrop for storytelling sessions and book-club discussions — for example, about Charles Dickens's classic novels Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities. Lectures are being given on such subjects as "words as images", "the art of love letters" and "stories about how to find your perfect partner". An intensive two-hour grammar lesson also promises to improve participants' written communication.

Anyone can participate for free.

Selfridges is hoping that public's interest will translate into book sales. The shop has partnered with four publishers — Penguin, Taschen, Faber, and Thames and Hudson — as well as the literary and philosophical magazine The Idler to make the event possible.