(CNN) October Books is a local institution in Southampton, a port city on England's south coast.

A not-for-profit radical bookstore with a 40-year history , it was recently forced to relocate after a rent increase in July.

With the help of a fundraising campaign and local donors, the bookshop successfully bought the former premises of a Nat West bank, just 150 meters along Portswood Road, for almost half a million pounds.

However, it still faced the daunting prospect of moving some 20,000 books, along with all the furniture, boxing and shelving.

So volunteers behind October Books appealed to their community for help. And it certainly responded.