The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading

Ownes works as an adult services librarian at the public library in Denver, Colorado. She fell in love with libraries as a high schooler after discovering interlibrary loans. Patrons of the Denver public library have been very patient and accommodating while the building is under renovations, and unlike many surrounding libraries, they have not received many book challenges because the city is generally liberal. Nonetheless, Ownes is the co-chair of the Colorado Association of Libraries Intellectual Freedom Committee, so she is exposed to much of the current debate around censorship. She believes parents should supervise what their own children read and not interfere with other families. Libraries should stock all information on all perspectives on any topic as long as the books are relevant to the collection and being taken out regularly.

Tally works as the children’s department manager for the independent bookstore Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina. The store is a community hub with a welcoming atmosphere. She has worked at the store for 20 years and is determined to see the children’s department expand even further. Because Southern Pines is wealthier than much of the surrounding area, Tally started a nonprofit organization called Authors in Moore Schools (AIMS) to promote literacy among local children. She organizes author visits in classrooms in which all attending children get a free signed copy of the authors’ books. The organization has received significant support from schools and funding from a large local bank.

Bangilan is the librarian at the Boniuk Library in the Holocaust Museum in Houston, Texas. After graduating with a degree in Spanish Literature and Linguistics, he spent 24 years working as the children’s specialist in the Houston public library. In the Holocaust Museum Library, he continues to run story times for young children to teach them about events of the holocaust. His is the only lending library in any holocaust museum nationwide, and they additionally host a number of survivor video testimonies along with an ever-expanding collection of digital research materials and resources. Bangilan is always interested to see what new research is published and works to connect the local community to its historical legacy. Despite what people assume, Bangilan doesn’t find his job depressing because his work ultimately provides a message of hope.

Coady is the owner and operator of the independent bookstore RJ Julia in Connecticut. She named the store for her paternal grandmother, who managed to ensure that Coady’s father not only survived the holocaust, despite being a Jewish family living in Hungary during the Second World War, but that he was also able to finish his high school education. Coady’s paternal grandmother was killed in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, but she saved her son and left him with a lifelong love of books and learning. Coady’s father went on to emigrate to America and achieve his American dream by having six children and opening a chain of successful bakeries in New York.

Coady’s parents initially did not allow her to get a library card because they mistrusted government institutions, but when they eventually relented, Coady was free to read any and all books she could get her hands on. She opened her bookstore at age 40 after significant soul searching and research, leaving a highly profitable career in accounting. Running the store has been a successful and fulfilling endeavor. Coady’s son found it difficult to equate his current life of privilege with Coady’s own humble origins, but they both still believe that upward mobility is possible to anyone thanks to the power of books.

Jesson is the co-owner of Black Bond Books, an independent chain of bookstores with seven locations across British Columbia, Canada. She took over the store when her mother, the founder, retired. The store is co-owned by Jesson’s daughter and was named for Jesson’s maternal great grandmothers. Many of Jesson’s other family members are employed in the stores. Jesson enjoys the job and recalls several major publishing events from decades past. She notes how much young people still love reading physical books, and she is always happy when customers return to books after a long time without reading.

Suzette Baker is the former head librarian of the Kingsland Branch Public Library in Llano County, Texas. She was the subject of significant media coverage and controversy when she was fired for taking a stand against censorship. Baker grew up on a farm in a military family and served in the military herself before becoming a librarian and later head librarian of their local branch in 2021.

She was approached that year and immediately pressured by a local group and her boss to remove certain books from the shelves without following proper procedures. The books were not pornographic as claimed but instead featured Black and LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Baker followed the Supreme Court and the American Library Association/Library Advisory Board guidelines, but the local Advisory Board reformed with pro-censorship members determined to flout regulations and laws to ban books without the oversight of librarians or the community.

Similar scenarios were occurring contemporaneously all over the country, and after learning of a school board banning holocaust literature and a pastor livestreaming a book burning event, Baker created a library display of widely banned books that went viral. Baker was fired for “insubordination,” which made her sad but not regretful. She discovered at a state library conference that she was well-known and widely admired in the industry for her actions. In Baker’s absence, the community rallied together to prevent their library from being closed, and a Supreme Court eventually ordered the return of all removed books. People are aware now of what is happening nationwide, and more people must take a stand against censorship.

Anderson works as a co-manager for the chain bookstore Books-A-Million in Kissimmee, Florida. She doesn’t believe that reading is an isolating hobby; in fact, it brings people together. She met her best friend, who is now a librarian, through a shared love of books. People visit her store from all over the world because it is located right next to Disneyland. Anderson enjoys recommending books that interest children, particularly video game tie-ins and books by Rick Riordan.

Lucey and her husband own the independent bookstore Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina. She grew up loving to read and formerly worked as a radio interviewer of authors passing through the town on tours. As a regular customer, she mentioned offhand a desire to run a bookstore to the former owners of Page 158 Books, so they offered to sell her the store when they retired. Lucey has interesting interactions with customers in her job and knows how impactful books can be for less privileged members of the community.

Lucey and his wife own the independent bookstore Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Lucey has always loved books and reading; his fondest childhood memories all revolve around his grandfather reading to him. He was happy to support his wife when she was offered the bookstore in 2015, and they were lucky enough to reopen just as the best-selling book Go Set a Watchman was released, drawing crowds. Lucey runs a lot of book clubs at the store, his favorite being “WTF did I just read?” for books that are too odd for a regular book club. Running the store has been a wonderful experience, and Lucey always gives all credit to his wife for her leadership.

Czyzewski is the bookseller, manager, and event coordinator at Thunder Road Books in Spring Lake, New Jersey. She formerly worked as a kindergarten teacher and ran a book blog called The Salty Bookworm. In 2021, she accepted an offer from the famous film producer Basil Iwanyk to run the bookstore that Iwanyk wished to open. Although Czyzewski loved following in her late grandmother’s footsteps by working as a teacher, she felt as though her grandmother—and her grandmother’s love of books—was guiding her to this new opportunity. Bookselling is challenging but rewarding, and the is store flourishing.

LaBarge works in senior inventory cluster support for Barnes & Noble stores across Kansas City, Kansas. To work as a bookseller, one must be good at figuring out what people want and need. He recalls hugging a patron buying books to help cope with the death of a grandparent, having to redirect another patron to second hand bookstores or the library to find a long-out-of-print title, and selling a story book to a little girl determined to read to a newborn baby brother. The right books in the right hands can be hugely impactful.

Heilik is the head of the fiction and movie department at the main branch of the central public library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Canada with parents who were also librarians, although she never planned to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Heilik loves Philadelphia and really enjoys working at the library, particularly interacting with patrons and exploring the fiction section. She considers public libraries to be a great equalizer because they provide so many free resources and services, and she encourages everyone to get a library card and start exploring what is on offer.