community

One of the reasons independent bookstores are so important is that they provide a place to build and support community, more so than almost any other type of retailer.  We’ve discussed this various times on the blog and posted a list of what some stories around the country are doing to promote a sense of community.  Last week, Terri Cumbie of Dudley’s Bookstore and Cafe in Bend, OR shared this story that typifies what lovers of bookstores mean when they describe community:

I had something amazing happen in the shop last week….  I found a leather-bound copy of the Collected Works of Thoreau at a thrift store and put it in the window of my shop.  Some guy came in the store and was having coffee when a young woman came in and said she wanted to buy the Thoreau book but didn’t have any money today.  She wanted to know if I would hold it for her until the next day, which was no problem.  After she left, the man came up to the counter with the book in his hands and said he wanted to buy it for the young woman so she would be surprised the next day.  I asked him what I should do if she didn’t come back for it.  He said to give it to the next person who inquired about it.  Well, the young woman didn’t come back, and on the 4th day, I put it back in the window.  A young man came in with a dark cloud over his head, and asked about the Thoreau book.  I told him he was welcome to take it, as it had been bought as a gift by a previous customer.  He was so shocked!  He told me that he’d just gotten back to the States after spending a year in Peru with Patch Adams, painting/repairing some slums in a town along the Amazon River, and when he returned to the States, he was distressed at our wealth and how we seemed not to appreciate it.  And then he was given this book by a complete stranger.  He was so thankful and wrote a note to the man (who remained nameless).  I was so very honored to witness this.  It’s all about community, isn’t it?

Yes it is all about community!

If you have any bookstore stories you’d like to share, please tell us!