Llibreria La Gralla

Llibreria La Gralla is a worker cooperative bookshop and stationery retailer based in the centre of Granollers, in the Vallès Oriental comarca of Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1966 at Carrer Museu number 9, it was created with the aim of offering a professional approach to bookselling and acting as a cultural instrument in a period marked by social and political constraints. Over the following decades it expanded into stationery, helped found the Bestiari cooperative for bookshop logistics, and in 1979 reconstituted itself as a worker cooperative (societat cooperativa de treball). In 1991 it moved to its current, larger premises in the historic and commercial centre of Granollers, and in late 2004 it integrated its stationery business into the same building, enlarged the bookshop area and created the 'Espai Gralla' for literary presentations and exhibitions. The shop carries a broad range of sections: children's and young adult literature, adult literature, essays, practical books, dictionaries, language methods, foreign-language literature, pocket books, guides, maps and travel literature. It also offers a music section and complementary audiovisual products on CD, DVD and CD-ROM. Alongside its physical retail, La Gralla operates an online bookshop serving Granollers and the wider Vallès Oriental area, selling books in Catalan and Spanish. La Gralla is not a conventional chain or listed company. It is a private worker cooperative, and since December 2002 La Gralla S.C.C.L. has held a stake in the ownership of the Catalònia bookshop in Barcelona. It also co-founded the Bestiari cooperative, which groups various bookshops across Catalonia for logistics and services. The shop is active in local cultural life, co-organising the Jaume Maspons i Safont literary prize and the Gual permanent journalism prize with the newspaper El 9 Nou and the Associació Cultural de Granollers. Its trajectory has been recognised with the Premio Nacional a la difusión del Libro (1988) from the Ministry of Culture, the Premi a la promoció del llibre en català (1992) from the Generalitat de Catalunya's Department of Culture, and the sixth Salvador Casanova award from ERC de Granollers in 2016.

La Gralla was born as a bookshop at number 9 of Carrer Museu in Granollers in 1966. Its founders wanted to give professional treatment to the book trade and to make the shop an effective instrument against the cultural, social and political shortcomings of the time, involving it in the social and cultural reality of the city and the comarca. Ten years later, in addition to the original establishment, La Gralla opened a new premises at number 50 of Carrer Sant Jaume dedicated solely to the sale of stationery products. From that same year, 1976, and with the aim of pooling problems and concerns among various bookshops mainly from the comarques, La Gralla founded the Bestiari cooperative for logistics and services, which today groups several establishments from across Catalonia. In 1979, new legal possibilities allowed the workers of La Gralla to constitute themselves as a worker cooperative (societat cooperativa de treball), a form it has maintained to the present. In 1991 the bookshop moved from Carrer Museu to its current location, a much more spacious premises in the historic and commercial centre of Granollers. At the end of 2004 it inaugurated the enlargement of its commercial surface, integrating the stationery shop into the same building, enlarging the bookshop area and creating the 'Espai Gralla' for literary presentations and exhibitions. Since December 2002 La Gralla S.C.C.L. has participated in the ownership of the Catalònia bookshop in Barcelona. In collaboration with the newspaper El 9 Nou and the Associació Cultural de Granollers, it convenes the Jaume Maspons i Safont literary prize and the Gual permanent journalism prize. Over its trajectory it has been awarded the Premio Nacional a la difusión del Libro 1988 from the Ministry of Culture and the Premi a la promoció del llibre en català 1992 from the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2016 it received the sixth Salvador Casanova award granted by ERC de Granollers.

• 2016

  Receives the sixth Salvador Casanova award from ERC de Granollers.

• 2004

  Inaugurates enlarged premises integrating the stationery shop and creating the 'Espai Gralla' events space.

• 2002

  La Gralla S.C.C.L. begins participating in the ownership of the Catalònia bookshop in Barcelona (December).

• 1992

  Receives the Premi a la promoció del llibre en català from the Generalitat de Catalunya's Department of Culture.

• 1991

  Moves from Carrer Museu to its current, larger premises in the historic and commercial centre of Granollers.

• 1988

  Receives the Premio Nacional a la difusión del Libro from the Ministry of Culture.

• 1979

  Workers constitute La Gralla as a worker cooperative (societat cooperativa de treball).

• 1976

  Opens a stationery-only shop at Carrer Sant Jaume 50 and founds the Bestiari cooperative for bookshop logistics and services.

• 1966

  La Gralla opens as a bookshop at Carrer Museu 9, Granollers.

A community-rooted, worker-owned cultural bookshop and stationer combining a broad Catalan and Spanish book offer with music, stationery and literary events.

• Online bookshop

  E-commerce site selling books in Catalan and Spanish for Granollers and Vallès Oriental.

• Espai Gralla

  In-store space for literary presentations and exhibitions.

1. 1Llibreria La Gralla official websitellibrerialagralla.cat
2. 2Llibreria La Gralla — Wikipedia (Catalan)ca.wikipedia.org
3. 3Llibreria La Gralla — Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4TAURÓ | 9791399165821 | BENCHLEY, PETER | Llibreria La Gralla | Llibreria online de Granollersllibrerialagralla.cat
5. 5SOC UN GAT | 9788410254329 | HERNANDEZ, ORIOL | Llibreria La Gralla | Llibreria online de Granollersllibrerialagralla.cat
6. 6CURTCIRCUIT | 9788417353735 | HAAS, WOLF | Llibreria La Gralla | Llibreria online de Granollersllibrerialagralla.cat