…of the bookstore counter.
This is my tenth holiday shopping season as a bookseller, at locally-owned independent Bookworks in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It also happens to be my first as a partner in the shop.
On January 1, 2023, Bookworks changed hands, and is now a partnership with the managing partners being the brilliant daughter-mother team of Shannon Guinn-Collins and Nancy Guinn—and a group of investors from the community, including myself, rounds out the team. Bookworks is truly a community effort!
It has been a year of learning and growing (we have about 30% more books in stock!), updating computers and training staff on new systems, re-starting author events after the pandemic (we’ve hosted authors from near and far in the store and Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead was in conversation with former Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy at the Kimo Theater in downtown in July…and more to come, including Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael Cunningham at the Main Albuquerque Public Library in January (get your tickets here), brightening the store’s colors and adding murals—I am prouder than ever to be a part of the Bookworks crew.
And speaking of crews, it’s all hands on deck for the holiday shopping season. I hope to be happily exhausted when we lock the doors on Christmas Eve. This season can make, or break, the year for a small business, so please SHOP SMALL and SHOP LOCAL!
Of course, I’m biased, but books sure do make great gifts. Talking with customers, helping them find books their loved ones will love, is my favorite part of this work. And there’s still time to order books, if we don’t happen to have the one you want (but not much time…at Bookworks, we’ll get books into the store in time for Christmas if you order by December 13th). Shop with us, or at your favorite local independent bookstore—we make a real difference in all our communities!
And remember, those of us on the other side of the counter are pushing pretty hard right now to get you what you really want, so please be patient with us while we do.
Happy Holidays, Bookworks folks!
Delighted to hear about the community investment… wishing you the very best!