This weekend we started shelving books

Each step in the process of building our bookstore has been a revelation. When the space was raw it was a blank canvas and we felt like anything could happen. When it was a construction zone, we'd monitor the changes and watch as things began to take shape. It was literally different every day. When the ceiling went in, the space suddenly sounded different, and that was a joyous shock - the first auditory change we'd experienced. When the shelves went up, but weren't yet stained, we had our first three dimensional sense of what the store would look like. Up until that point, we only had paper plans and our imaginations and our vision. After the shelves got stained and finished, we stepped back and looked, and loved what we saw even more than we thought we would. We truly created a home for our books.

And then this weekend, the moment we'd all been craving: we started putting books on the shelves. The pile of boxes had grown so large; almost bloated and unwieldy, it was a relief to knock some of it out. It was also pure joy to shelve, and pure beauty to see the bookcases begin to fill up. The sound of books sliding against wood, the zen-effect alphabetizing has, the excitement you get when shelving a favorite book or author, and the connections you make with others when you find shared favorites. I especially loved breaking down the boxes as we emptied them onto the shelves, physical proof of our progress.

We started with fiction on Saturday. Fiction is the largest section you see (on the left side of the store) when you look in the front window. It spans one large zig-zag wall.

Before:


After:


Thanks to all the people who gave us 'thumbs up' as the passed by our windows that day - it was wonderful to see that you were as excited about seeing the books going up as we were. There's still a ton of sorting and shelving to do, but each day we get closer, and folks: we are so close to being able to open our doors. Thanks for being patient with us! We promise, we'll be open very soon.