Bits from Beth

Happy July!

Last month I shared the story behind our job title "booktender" and talked about the tending to customers aspect. I spoke about the many joys of owning a bookstore. Let me continue this month unpacking what it means to me to be a booktender.

Obviously, one of the most important components of working in a predominantly used bookstore is keeping it well stocked with interesting and relevant used books. I like almost everything about a used book. Used books are good for the environment, good for people's budgets, provide insights into the past, and there is something really special about that shared history of owning a book someone else enjoyed. And I would be remiss not to mention that unique smell that is similar no matter which book shop you visit in the world. If you know you know.

Roughly 750 to 1000 gently used books come into our store each week. One way we secure many of these books is through customer appointments. While we offer cash or store credit for the books, we also appreciate when customers support us through donations. Additionally I buy books at Friends of the Library sales in the region. I also try to get on the road once a week to purchase books at estate sales and thrift shops. While I typically stay in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, my addiction to finding great books is real. Thus, when I travel to other places, I include book buying excursions into my plans. Last week I traveled around southwest Wisconsin and Northeast Iowa and filled my car to capacity.

Once the books are in Pearl Street Books, the real tending begins. We clean every used book before placing it on a shelf. Books are typically cleaned with elbow grease and 70% alcohol using old discarded t-shirts as cleaning rags. Occasionally we have to use 90% alcohol or a stronger product to remove sticky residue. A hair dryer and straight edge razor are our best friends for removing stubborn stickers. Some books take very little effort and some, well, you can imagine. Almost all books can be made to look good again.

After cleaning a book, we also page through and remove any items that don't add value to the books (e.g., gum wrappers used as bookmarks, shopping lists, airplane tickets, etc.). We hide phone numbers and addresses. We typically leave value added items (e.g. sweet notes, dried flowers, newspaper clippings about the book, etc.). Sometimes we find the sweetest notes, pictures, birthday cards. etc. Once, I found a $50 bill inside an old vintage book (bought at a thrift store). We really could write a book just on the things we find in books.

This tending of the books is done by all team members. It is an important way that we learn about different authors, genres, and get to know titles. Occasionally, we get in an entire estate from one person. This is truly magical. While we rarely know the person, we get to know the person while tending to the books they bought, read, and kept. Have I mentioned how readers make really good humans? Here are just a few examples:

• One adult son brought in his mother's books when she entered memory care about three years ago. I had never seen such a complete collection of field guides and environmental /nature books. Box after box, each filled with books about birds, mammals, rivers and streams, reptiles and amphibians, wild flowers, native gardens, etc. It was obvious that she wanted to appreciate nature and protect it. This was not her job - just her passion. I truly hope she was able to watch nature from her new home. Her son appreciated the cash and was grateful that his mother's books could find new homes.
• Adult children of a pastor who passed away after a life of serving communities around the Midwest asked me to take ALL of his books or none. I am not a very religious person, but very spiritual. And I do have biases. So I hesitated to say yes. I am so glad that I did. I wasn't expecting this collection to move and inspire me. Well, it did. I actually did a google search on his life and found that he had been at a church near my hometown during my childhood. Most impressive was that he kept learning right up until his death. I base this on the significant number of recently published books (with his notations) on how to decolonize the church and his mindset, be more inclusive and welcoming to all, etc. I wish I could have met him.
• There are so many children who love reading and make appointments to sell their well loved books that they have outgrown in order to buy fresh books. It gives me such joy to see these children who already have a passion for books leave with new to them books at a higher reading level. I so wish my business model allowed me to give children's books away for free.

So, that is a glimpse into what it is like to tend to the used books as they come into our store. As I shared last month, it is joyful. Pure and simple - it is joyful to work at Pearl Street Books and tend to the books in our store!

Happy reading!

Beth

*Image below of Beth's car's cargo area jammed full of reusable bags filled with gently used books.

Windows and Mirrors - Celebrating History of the USA

Happy Fourth of July! Our history section remains well stocked as is your local library. Be sure to celebrate democracy with reading a history book. Here are a few of my favorites:

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn remains one of my all time favorite books. If you have already read it, be sure to check out our other people-centered history books.

Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail by Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward. This important read is as disturbing as it is inspiring.

America, Ame'rica: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin is a sweeping five-century narrative of North and South America. I haven't completed it yet...but it has already surprised me, changed my thinking, and has me wanting to learn more. I will definitely be reading more by Grandin.