The Bookworms
Local booksellers grow their communities, one book, one recommendation, one conversation at a time.
photographs Madeleine Hordinski
From the Archive - Spring 2024
Spring may be just around the corner, but as every ruddy-cheeked Midwesterner knows, turning that corner can feel like navigating a corn maze. More often than not, Old Man Winter waits smirking on the other side, delighted to hit us with another round of the drizzle we love to hate.
Late winter’s not all bad, though. In fact, this dormant season is vital for both pale green things and fleshy human ones. In our cozy burrows, we gather the nourishment and strength we need to surface when the time is right. For readers, that usually entails curling up in our favorite chair with a hot cup of coffee and a good book—or a half dozen of each.
Engrossed in this most cherished winter pastime, we barely notice the natural chaos happening just outside.
So, what would compel a home-bodied bookworm to brave the bluster and share their love of reading with—gulp—other people? For many, the answer is our favorite local bookstore. And in that category, our Ohio Valley cocoon is richly silkened beyond measure.
Cultivating a Childlike Love of Reading
The Tristate is home to dozens of independent bookshops, each offering that intangible thing with the power to draw us out of hibernation. In Columbia-Tusculum, it takes the shape of The Bookery, whose husband-and-wife owners found themselves smack-dab in the middle of the global pandemic with an audacious idea.
“One day we’re driving down Eastern Avenue, and we see this old building with a for-lease sign in the storefront,” says Sierra Hollabaugh, a former high school English teacher and mother of two who escaped the pandemic’s isolation in part by connecting with other readers online.
“A city needs a bookstore like a body needs a soul.”
“We had been selling books online for a while and wanted to transition to a brick-and-mortar. So, we called the number on the sign, almost on a whim, and things started happening fast. People still stop in and say they’re shocked we opened a bookstore in the age of Amazon.”
After opening their doors in October 2022, the Hollabaughs quickly got to work deepening connections within Cincinnati’s public library system and with fellow retailers like the folks at Downbound Books in Northside and Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Hyde Park. On one literary field trip beyond Cincinnati, they visited Chicago’s Exile In Bookville, whose owners shared tips for sourcing titles and developing their business plan.
“Reading builds empathy, so we shouldn’t be surprised to find this wonderful network of support from other businesses,” Hollabaugh says. “Right away, everyone was like, ‘What can we help you with?’ and ‘What don’t you know?’ We’re learning so much about our community and what readers want to see. And if we don’t have a book someone is looking for, we know exactly where to send them. It’s really helped us find our focus.”
A big part of that focus, Hollabaugh says, is inspired by the way children read—with total enthusiasm and zero pretense. That’s one reason she doesn’t let what’s trending on The New York Times Best Seller list dictate what she buys. Instead, she listens to her customers and encourages discussion via The Bookery’s in-store message boards and Instagram feed @bookerycincy.
“The writer Ann Patchett owns a really great bookstore in Nashville called Parnassus Books,” she says. “And I remember hearing her say once that customers used to ask for their romance novels wrapped in paper so that no one could see the cover. That really struck me as kind of sad, so I always tell people, ‘Absolutely read what you want; read to be informed, but also read because it’s fun.’ That’s what kids do, and it’s a great lesson for adult readers.”
Bookstores as Hubs for Community
That unpretentious, come-one-come-all attitude is fairly universal among independent booksellers. At the same time, the beauty of a neighborhood bookstore is its ability to reflect hyperlocal tastes and interests that can vary widely, even within a few short blocks.
Of Roebling Books & Coffee’s three Northern Kentucky locations, for example, Newport attracts the largest horror and mystery book crowd. That’s in part because Newport’s lead bookseller, Andy, is an expert who loves sharing recommendations for both genres. And his customers love him for it.
Meanwhile, Roebling’s flagship Covington store caters to a socially conscious crowd, frequently hosting Queer community meetups and conversations around local politics. Some events feature both a literary and charitable component; their Book Fairy program, for example, donates 20% of curated book sales to a different local organization or initiative each month. Others, like their community bike rides, primarily serve to inspire social connection.
“Our founder, Richard Hunt, is fond of saying, ‘A city needs a bookstore like a body needs a soul,’ and that’s how we try to respond to the different interests and needs of each community,” says book specialist Emily Webster. “You get to pick the titles people see when they come to your door. That can spark new interests and larger conversations as you get to learn more about your neighbors.”
Talking with the booksellers at Roebling, it’s clear that innovation and engagement marketing are a big part of their strategy for success—but director of operations Julia Keister says that shouldn’t be confused with competition.
“We all share the goal of supporting community, so there’s no need to compete in this space or even with the big national chains,” says Keister, adding that Roebling’s staff “will go to some crazy lengths” to find a book for a customer, and if they live outside the River Cities, that often means sending them to Barnes & Noble.
Cooking & Reading: Cultivating Curiosity & Generosity
If you’re wondering what all this has to do with Edible Ohio Valley’s primary focus on organic food and home cooking, we could point out that Keister founded locally beloved Lil’s Bagels in Covington before bringing many of its recipes—and staff members—to Roebling Books.
In fact, it was the coffee arm of the business that carried Roebling through the dark days of the pandemic. While many other brick-and-mortar businesses were forced to close or shift to an online-only format, cabin-weary Roebling customers flocked to its temporary walk-up windows for gourmet coffee, bites, and friendly conversation. They kept buying books, too.
“We offered free book delivery during the shutdown, but our customers weren’t having that. They took any chance they could to get out of the house,” Keister laughs. “You know, we talk a lot about the negative aspects of the pandemic, and there were a lot, for sure. But one positive is that it gave people a whole new appreciation for community that might not have happened otherwise.”
Ohio Book Store, which has stood at the corner of Main and East 8th Streets in Over-the-Rhine for more than 80 years also repairs and restores books in the bindery downstairs.
Keister and Webster believe it was especially important for young patrons to witness how residents, small businesses, and community leaders rallied around one another during the pandemic. “By instilling those values, a whole generation will grow up knowing what community looks like and why it’s important,” Keister says.
Indeed, it’s that passion for learning and empowering future generations that Edible shares with independent booksellers in our region. And few exemplify it more steadfastly than Ohio Book Store, which has stood at the corner of Main and East 8th Streets in Over-the-Rhine for more than 80 years.
The store was founded by Blacksburg, VA, native James Hardwick. Its current owner, James Fallon, started working there in 1956 and never left. Long Cincinnati’s go-to for used books, the four-story building houses innumerable volumes on every imaginable subject, at prices that range from $1 to several thousand, depending on their rarity and value.
The other side of their business is book repair, and much like Roebling’s walk-up coffee window, that offering is what sustained Ohio Book Store during government-imposed pandemic shutdowns. Fallon, who goes by Jim Jr., remembers the frustration of being forced to close while corporate retailers with considerably deeper resources remained open.
“Our customers could go to Walmart or Kroger and buy a book, but so-called nonessential businesses like ours suffered greatly,” Fallon says, though he concedes it helped being able to sell some used books on Amazon. “We also kept busy in the bindery, as booklovers were still sending us their treasured books for us to restore. We still sell books on Amazon every day, and books for restoration are constantly shipped here.”
One-of-a-Kind Experiences
Like other booksellers, Fallon and his team—which includes his brother, Michael—purchase a lot of books based on what they’re hearing from customers in the store. They’ll even host an author book signing “once in a blue moon,” Fallon says. But his focus isn’t on providing a community gathering space or extensive in-store programming. Rather, he is deeply committed to providing unmatched customer service and sharing his nearly seven decades of book knowledge.
“We genuinely care about our business and we’re here to help our customers,” he says, whether that means helping patrons navigate the store in search of a specific title or recommending books based on a customer’s niche interest. “We have bought and sold numerous scarce books, from Galileo to Tecumseh and Daniel Drake to Dr. Seuss. Our customers’ stories of how long they have looked for an elusive title—and finally found it here—are the most memorable.”
Of course, Fallon admits, when you’ve been in business as long as Ohio Book Store, you don’t have to do much marketing. The iconic store is a draw all its own.
“From what we can tell, the bookstore is the destination,” he says. “We constantly ask our customers the reason they came downtown, and overwhelmingly they answer, ‘To come here, to the bookstore!’ So, in some way I hope we help the surrounding community.”n
Hannah is a graduate of NKU's political science program and a freelance creative who writes extensively about development in Greater Cincinnati. She doesn't like to fly, but she loves to travel. Her favorite books are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Love in the Time of Cholera.
