A Scottish bookseller has been "bombarded" with applications to work at the bookshop while living in a gardener's cottage on site.
The Bookshop in Wigtown shared the role on social media and has since been inundated with emails from hundreds of bibliophiles eager to sign up.
Shaun Bythell, who has run the shop in Scotland's 'National Book Town' for 23 years, said: "I can't believe how many people had contacted me about it. I have been bombarded, I can't even keep up with the emails."
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The independent bookshop shared a video on Tuesday walking past the shelves, through a courtyard and into the cosy cottage.
The video's caption said: "If anyone feels like working in the shop in exchange for accommodation, this is the old gardener’s cottage, recently renovated."
It has since received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments from excited book lovers all over the world.
Mr Blythell said: "The cottage has been sitting empty and I thought it's kind of a waste. I thought I might as well offer people the opportunity to come and work in exchange for free accommodation, people seem to love it."
The bookshop already runs a scheme called The Open Book where people can rent its apartment on Airbnb and get the experience of running a bookshop first hand.
Mr Bythell said he won't be interviewing for the new role, but instead will arrange for people to come and stay throughout the year.
He said: "You don't know who you are going to get but in my experience having people coming to stay, it's almost a self-selecting group of book lovers. I've never had anyone here who I haven't liked."
They are aiming to set up a booking system for people to arrange when they can come.
"I'm quite laid back when it comes to hours and days," says Mr Blythell, "They won't have to pay for anything. I'll make sure they've got food in the fridge.
"I have done something similar before and people have enjoyed the experience. It brings interesting people to the town."
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Duties will include tidying shelves, arranging books in alphabetical order, and occasionally listing books online.
"I love it, I wouldn't swap it for anything," he said, "At the moment I'm struggling to keep up with things. I'm writing another book so my time is quite limited, an extra pair of hands will be really useful."
Mr Blythell has written a number of bestselling novels about his experiences running his shop, including Confessions of a Bookseller, The Diary of a Bookseller, and Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops.
He has run the shop since November 2001 and said: "I love it, I wouldn't swap it for anything."
The bookshop itself has more than a mile of shelving supporting around 100,000 books.
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Its gardener's cottage, which is just a stone's throw from the shelves, includes a kitchen, double bedroom, and bathroom with tub.
The Bookshop is found in Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, which was officially designated 'Scotland's National Book Town' in 1998 due to its abundance of bookshops.
Each year the town holds a festival celebrating books which draws famous authors and thousands of visitors.
For more information about The Bookshop, visit the-bookshop.com or @wigtownbookshop on social media.
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