Michael Earp, the new owner of The Little Bookroom, inside the East Brunswick Village shop. Photo: Mark Phillips
Poppy Searle
Monday, October 20, 2025
JUST in time for its 65th birthday, one of Melbourne’s favourite book shops has found a new home in Brunswick East.
The Little Bookroom, believed to the oldest ongoing children’s bookshop in the world, has just opened at East Brunswick Village and will throw a party to celebrate this Saturday.
Founded by German-born Albert Ullin, The Little Bookroom first opened its doors in 1960 in Melbourne’s Metropole Arcade, and was the first bookstore in Australia to specialise in children’s books.
Over the years, The Little Bookroom helped launch the careers of many celebrated local authors and illustrators, including Michelle Conn, Sherryl Clark, Mitch Vane and Danny Katz. When the bookstore’s next chapter was announced, local illustrators including Gabrielle Wang, Lucinda Gifford and Ben Wood took to social media to celebrate with redesigns of the store’s logo.
In the six decades since its opening, the bookstore has moved numerous times, each time taking with it the original shelves built by Albert Ullin, who died in 2018. After almost two decades in North Fitzroy, it has moved a few kilometres north to Brunswick for the first time.
To continue that legacy comes with a big responsibility.
Fortunately, the store’s new owner is Michael Earp, a non-binary writer of young adult fiction and seasoned bookseller, is up to the challenge.
Earp was the manager of The Little Bookroom from 2018 to 2022, during which time they won the 2021 Bookseller of the Year award. According to Earp, the bookshop is a “living legacy to the power of books, imagination, and community”.
Earp describes their new role as “daunting, but exciting”. They are confident that The Little Bookroom’s new location will bring in fresh customers.
“There’s a Coles, there’s the cinema, there’s all these other reasons why people come to East Brunswick Village. To add a bookshop to that is a good mix”.
Earp launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of the move. Within the first 48 hours of the fundraiser’s launch, $20,000 had been pledged, and it’s currently on track to hit its new goal of $45,000.
The campaign has received donations from popular local authors, illustrators, booksellers, publishers, librarians, teachers and readers.
Nearly 400 people donated to the Little Bookroom’s GoFundMe and over 50 people volunteered to help set up the shop. Earp says they were deeply moved by the support from locals, “the [sense of] community is huge.”
“I was really surprised and moved at how much people cared about keeping The Little Bookroom alive. It really is this cornerstone of Melbourne’s book community,” said Earp.
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The bookshop is already beginning to cement itself into the Brunswick community, including a potential new partnership with Merri-Bek libraries. Local schools have already started to reach out about class excursions.
Earp is eager to collaborate with local organisations and community members.
“I want to work with anyone who wants to work with me,” they said. “I’m so passionate about kids’ books and making reading accessible and fun and engaging. I’ll explore anything to make that happen.”
The Little Bookroom also has a community reading rewards program, where customers can nominate a local school and 5% of their sale value will be donated as store credit to that school.
Earp is also planning on bringing back The Little Bookroom’s education-focused nights and teacher information evenings. Book clubs for various age groups ranging between primary and high school will return in 2026.
Earp has big plans for the bookshop, including a children’s literary journal and professional development for teachers, writers and illustrators and young creators, as well as children’s workshops.
“I want it to be bigger than a shop. I want it to be an institution that’s recognised internationally for its contribution to children’s literature. It’s starting with the shop, but I have big, big plans, and so I’ll need to grow in a sustainable way.”
According to Earp, part of what makes the move to East Brunswick village “really exciting [is because] it could be built to my specifications. I was able to plan for the space to easily host in-store events with very little fuss.”
New additions include screens on the walls to advertise events, as well as microphones, computers and other tech devices for hosting book launches and other events.
“I want to make The Little Bookroom the go to place for kids book events in Melbourne.”
Earp is planning for the long term.
“When I say that I can’t wait to celebrate the 100th birthday, people say ‘But that’s 35 years away; why are you planning for 35 years?’ And I’m like, oh, I just have such big plans!”.
The Little Bookroom’s Grand Re-Opening and 65th Birthday Party is on Saturday, October 25 at 8 Village Avenue, East Brunswick Village. Michael Earp will be joined by many children’s book authors and illustrators for fun games and story times.
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