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Huize Colette: A home for books, coffee, chocolate


When you go to the Belfortstraat in Ghent, you will pass by a small place called Huize Colette. Looking through the large window of this lovely building you will see books, a homely place and you will almost smell the coffee and chocolate. It is a place of homemade drinks and pastry and a place where there is love for books that should not be destroyed.

What is so unique about this coffee shop is the combination of original food and beverages, on the one hand, and the love for used books on the other. Huize Colette offers you a good cup of coffee, tea or chocolate milk, with some pastry or more chocolate… on the side. Whether you like dark or white chocolate, there is always something to be found to your liking. There is even a unique recipe for chocolate milk on the menu, hot chocolate not made with milk but instead with water. It is worth the try! You can also order a chocolate fondue or a homemade pie.

But next to this story of food and warmth there is also the book. Not the brand new book but a book used and yet still valued. Indeed, why would we throw away books once we’ve read them? Is not the book a durable product? And should it not be used in a sustainable way since trees are a major source used for the production of books? Still, there are people who throw out books or leave them to be destroyed. If you are cleaning out your library and there are some books you want to “dispose” of, Huize Colette is a place to keep in mind. You can easily drop of your used books there and combine this trip with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. There is also beer or fresh lemonade for a sunny day.

This story of the used book is an important one. There is not only the fact that individuals might throw out their books, bookshops will destroy books when these are lying around too long on the shelves of their store. Unfortunately it is more expensive to store a book than to destroy and later reprint it. Hopefully, however, in the future the used book market will gain notoriety and will expand to become a more essential way of thinking about the book, of treating the book and using and buying it.

Contact:

Belfortstraat 6

9000 Gent

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