Who are we?

A brief history of the Brugse Boekhandel

The De Meester family’s Brugse Boekhandel (Bruges Bookshop) has been an established name on the side of the Dijver Canal since 1934.

In 2019 we celebrated 85 years in business in Bruges city centre. Nevertheless, we still feel young and dynamic.

In addition to our general books, we also have a wide range of books for children and young people, an impressive collection of lace books and a wide range of fantasy and science fiction.

History and local heritage too have a prominent position.

We are also organised to deliver to schools (textbooks and exercise books) and libraries (including consignments on approval). If your school or library is interested in our way of working, do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

We also organise occasional workshops and lectures.

You can always find details of these on our Facebook page.

We accommodate the first reading club for young adults in Flanders, ‘Dear Book Nerd Book Club’.

They meet a few times a year in our Fantasy Cellar to talk about the latest books for young adults.

	Koen and Katelijne have been at the helm of Brugse Boekhandel De Meester since 1 April 1994. Koen took up the torch from his father, Paul, who had followed in the footsteps of his father, Jozef, which is how Brugse Boekhandel came into the hands of the third generation of De Meesters. At present, Katelijne does not work in the bookshop every day; she has her own demanding work in the Bruges Kantcentrum Lace Centre, where she makes sure everything runs smoothly. You mainly find Koen “on the road”, delivering all the orders to libraries, schools and individual customers.
Elke has been the face of the bookshop since April 2003. She can find the perfect book for any customer and also makes sure that the shop is neat and tidy. Books for children and young people hold no secrets for her and she is always up to date with comings and goings in the book world.
	Michaela joined the team in 2005. She is responsible for the websites, administration and contact with wholesalers. In her free time, she devours fantasy books.
Kim was recruited in 2007 to run our order handling. She is also the contact person for libraries. She is passionate about comic books, board games and music.
	Eva is the newest member of our bookshop family. In 2017 she came to cover for Michaela, who was going on maternity leave, but she liked the work so much that she stayed. Eva looks after the magazines and has the poetry bug. She also runs her own second hand bookshop in Ostend.