There’s a midsummer marathon in store at Letchworth’s David’s Bookshop – and enthusiastic bookworms can get involved.

The event is part of the Letchworth Festival but also ties in with national Independent Bookshop Week, which kicks off on Saturday and is part of the Books Are My Bag campaign which puts the spotlight on independent bookshops in the UK.

The standout event is a 24-hour bedtime read, running from 6am on Saturday morning all the way through to 6am the following day.

Supporters will snuggle up between the sheets to read during one or more 15-minute stints to cover the round-the-clock session, and if you’d like to join them you can sign up in the store now.

A bed is being installed in the Eastcheap shop to make sure that all the readers are sitting, or lying, comfortably as they set off on their part of the reading relay.

Pyjamas are welcome, and the stunt will be raising funds for the Book Trust charity.

That’s not the only special event in the store during the week.

Monday will see an evening with author Emma Healey, who wrote ‘everyone’s talking about it’ bestseller Elizabeth Is Missing which combines a mystery story with an elderly woman’s heartbreaking experience of increasing dementia to memorable effect.

She’ll be at the shop on Monday evening to talk about her book, which was shortlisted for the 2014 Costa first novel award.

Tickets are £4 for the session that starts at 7.30pm, and you can find out more online at www.davids-bookshops.co.uk.

On Tuesday evening poet John Gohorry launches The Age of Saturn at 7.30pm – John is the store’s official poet in residence and the new work is his eighth collection.

Throughout the week young visitors to the shop can have fun with the Tiger Who Came To Tea Trail, inspired by Judith Kerr’s perennial children’s favourite, above right. Children can follow the paw prints around the shop and on the pavement and fill in a game card for each Tiger spotted.

And there’s also a summer sale at the shop with 25 per cent off everything, including music stock, throughout Saturday.

Find out more about what’s in store here.

Check out the rest of the Letchworth Festival programme here.