Happy birthday to #IndieThursday which turns two years old today! In honor of this special day, we're back with another #IndieThursday feature. This week, we're chatting with Emily Grossenbacher, children's bookseller at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, Mississippi.
Welcome, Emily! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us
about your store.
Give us a virtual
tour—what do we see when we first walk in? Is there a certain section that
jumps out at us?
The first things I see when I enter OZ, our kid's section,
is the floor to ceiling red bookcases. They line every wall in OZ and are
filled with books that lead the eye to the vaulted circus tent of a ceiling.
Yes, the ceiling really looks like a circus tent, red and white stripes and
all. OZ holds books for kids, baby to teen, and really feels like you are
stepping into someone's exotic library. I am personally biased, but I must say
I feel very at home back there.
How do you match a
child or a parent with a book? What questions do you ask?
The first question I
usually ask a parent is what kind of book they want. There are those who want
classics, and then there are those that want books that are unique, maybe
something they wouldn't find on their own.
As for kids, it
differs between the non readers and the voracious readers. For the non-readers,
I ask what their favorite things in life are. I have gotten answers such as
kittens and trucks, to dirt bike racing and cheerleading. I try to think about
these types of answers when I am buying for the store. As for the readers, I
ask them what the last book they loved was and I try to get them to answer
fast. I have found that kids usually have two different kinds of answers for
this question: what they think adults want for an answer, and what they really
think. I want the latter. Even if it is Wimpy Kid.
What are your
favorite titles to hand sell right now?
Right now, I am loving Steam Train, Dream Train and Raven
Boys.
Does your bookstore
coordinate school visits with authors? Or do you work with local teachers and
librarians in some other way?
We do! We have really revamped our relationship with schools
in the last five years. We take almost every kid's author who comes to the
store to a school and we offer great discounts and resources to teachers and
librarians. This is one of my favorite parts of my job. I love helping the
right people reach the right kids. We all have the same goal: to get kids
reading.
Why are children’s
books an integral part of your store?
Community is an
integral part of our store and kids are a huge part of our community. Not to
mention that OZ creates future adult customers. Our store has been around for
37 years; long enough for me to know for a fact that if you create a reader
young, they will stay a reader as they grow. We have so many adult customers
who started their relationship with Lemuria as children.
Why are independent
bookstores so important to the future of reading and literacy?
I thought about this
one a lot, for while it is something that I believe to be true, it's hard to
put into words why. Independent bookstores are unique from online sellers in
that they are in the community, working and living with their customers and
creating a reading conversation in their community. I think, at least in our
community, that our presence is a large factor in what keeps that conversation
going and binds the readers in our community.
Find Lemuria Bookstore:
202 Banner Hall 4465 I-55 North, Jackson, Mississippi 39206
Website: http://www.lemuriabooks.com
Contact Information (general phone/email): 601.366.7619/emily@lemuriabooks.com
Twitter: @lemuriabooks, @emilyofoz
Blog: blog.lemuriabooks.com
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