This Isn’t Just Retail for Us

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We’re booksellers. Literally translated, that means we sell books, buy books, shelve books, return books, move shelves, change light bulbs, vacuum, empty trash, remove a book from a shelf and place it in the right place on a different shelf, rave about books that deserved to be raved about to anyone who will listen, rave about books that are being raved about that don’t deserve to be raved about, and anything else that happens to arise during our typical workday. To an outsider, it would be easy to assume that we are simply retailers who sell books. We’re not. We’re much more than that.

Take, for example, Rachel, who regularly reviews books on her blog, rachelannhanley.blogspot.com/.

Or Rem, who has been a writer for many years. And now makes gorgeous knitted bookmarks that he sells in the store.

Perhaps you know Brendan, who came to us as an intern, hungry to learn more about the book and publishing industries. And now, well, he’s one of us *maniacally rubs hands together*.

Maybe you remember Chuck’s book on the history of the store, It Takes a Village Books. Yes, he too is an author.

Or my own book, the Village Books Guide to Self-Publishing, which helps authors sort out the nitty-gritty for publishing their own book.

Every November Sarah, our Children’s Book Buyer & Store Manager, buckles down for NaNoWriMo to crank out a novel in 30 days!

Have you seen the beauty that Cindi, Laura & Jonica create from books? If you’ve been in the store lately, look around. You’ll see stunning book-based artwork hung in various places.

(Cindi's artwork)

Point being, we’re not just people who just happen to work in a place that sells books. We’re here because we love books. We love to create them, work with them, work around them, learn more about them, interact with them. We’re certainly not getting rich doing this. Fortunately or unfortunately, books are simply part of our DNA.

-Lindsey

Comments

[Brad Craft]

Well said. Brava.

[Cheryl McKeon]

Lindsay - so very well said! I am so proud to be "one of you" albeit a bit farther south, now. Cheryl

[Lindsey]

Thanks, Cheryl! We do miss you up here!

[Tim]

Thank you for sharing good articles