To refer to Barter Books as a secondhand bookshop rather underplays its status as one of the largest secondhand bookshops in Britain, one The New Statesman described as  ‘The British Library of secondhand bookshops’. Housed in a magnificent old Victorian railway station in the small market town of Alnwick, Barter Books was opened in 1991 by Stuart and Mary Manley and has grown into a much-loved and popular institution. Nor does its fame rest solely on its size. Back in 2001 Stuart discovered a long-forgotten WWII poster in a box of old books bought in job lot at auction – a poster Mary liked so much she had it framed. Thanks to customer interest, they then began selling facsimile copies. Some four years later the poster was spotlighted in an article In the Guardian. From that time on, sales exploded and copyists proliferated to the end that the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ poster has since become one of the iconic images of the 20^th century.

Sadly, that has not made it immune from the equally old practice of shoplifting and following a number of significant losses, it was decided that something had to be done. Intrepid has installed two EM Pentor systems, with integrated people counters, providing protection for all the media within the store. Keith Rodwell, Manager, says that they chose Intrepid because ‘ (they) had a significant presence in the library and book market’. Intrepid was also able to offer the best ‘entry level system at an affordable price’.

The Pentor EM system is designed specifically for libraries and bookshops to provide reliable protection for books, DVD’s CD’s and all types of library media, and is capable of securing door widths between 80 and 120 cm. Neil Jackson, Intrepid’s library specialist says ‘Using  expertise gained in the Library field, Intrepid was able to offer Barter Books the ideal solution for it’s unique retail environment. EM technology provides a more covert form of protection than RF and unlike RF labels which have to be stuck onto an item; EM strips can be used without damage to valuable books and other media’.