The Joy of Guiding Readers

Three different interactions during my first day as a bookseller

I recently started working in a place I had longed to be: a bookstore.

I am a bookseller.

Our little city of Mineral Point (pop. 2,500) has had an independent bookstore, The Republic of Letters, since last year.¹

It took me a year to work up the gumption to offer my limited time to cover for the owner when he was out of town and needed someone to run the store.

“Thank you for offering! I’ve been thinking about asking for help; I have dates coming up where I need some coverage.”

It was settled. I was a regular anyway, popping in his store every other week or so, probably one of his top customers. Being a reader and knowledgeable about literature was my interview.

After a brief onboarding, I was opening the doors and turning on the lights.

The approach the owner advocates for in the bookstore is one of cordial aloofness. Kind and respectful, yet deferential to the reader.

"I don’t ask people if they need any help, unless they are looking lost. I greet them when they come in and I am available if they have any questions."

I appreciated this stance.

I did get several opportunities to support customers.

One lady, a grandmother (of kids 4-11) was looking for books with tortoises. I pulled off the shelf a National Geographic for Kids informational text. "The images in these books are excellent. My former students always had these out during independent reading time." I also recommended I Want My Hat Back² by Jon Klassen. "There is a tortoise in it, and it’s funny." (I remembered what Thomas Newkirk said in The Art of Slow Reading: "Humor is the gold standard for kids and reading.") She thanked me for helping, especially when she sees one of her grandchildren not loving reading due to “all of the phonics work her school sends home”.

A gentleman, not much younger than me, asked if we had the second book in the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. "I can look up the author’s name in our system and see what books we have of hers." He corrected me that Robinson is male. Thanking him for the feedback, I shared that we didn’t have it but would put it as a request for the order. He pivoted and found a book in the science fiction section by Benjamin Percy. "A friend of mine likes that author, especially The Ninth Metal. Isn’t that the first in the series?" He wasn’t sure and still went with the Percy installment in his hands.

Another customer, a woman in her 30s, asked what I knew about The Museum of Other People by Adam Kuper. I admitted not much, wondering aloud if Kuper was a journalist (he wasn’t; he’s an anthropologist). "What is it about?" I asked her, boomeranging her initial question. She explained that, from what she could gather, the author critiques museums' tendencies to misrepresent the cultures and the peoples they intend to create exhibits around. "Whoa, that sounds like an interesting topic." She bought it. I made a mental note to ask an extended family member, who works in a major museum, about this topic when I see her next.

Three different readers. Three different interests in what they wanted to read. All motivated to buy a book or two for the joy and engagement that reading brings to one’s life.³ My role was to listen, to offer suggestions when needed, and to engage in conversation around texts. I didn’t have to have read the books they were considering. It was helpful to know genre and to show interest in their own background knowledge about the topics and subjects they were exploring.

In other words, to support readers, I need to be a reader.

Upcoming Events

In a few days, I will be reaching out to subscribers of this newsletter about an exclusive live masterclass (plus recording) that I’ll be offering. The class, “Prioritizing What's Most Important: A System for Effective Instructional Leadership”, will walk principals and coaches through a simple process I developed to reduce stress, increase joy in one’s work, and achieve better instructional outcomes for teachers and students. I’ll also be in touch about this fall’s book club. Take care, -Matt

1. For more information about The Republic of Letters, check out the website which includes a short video of the store (also below).

2. Several book links are part of my affiliation to Bookshop.org, a supporter of independent book stores. A small percentage of each sale goes to support this space. You can view “my own store” on Bookshop here.

3. If you are going to read one thing today (besides this post, of course), check out Regie Routman’s lead in today’s Big Fresh newsletter for Choice Literacy. Her story of guiding a neigborhood family to embrace the joy of raising a reader in a phonics-first education climate is the perfect read to start the new school year.