Next month, the Galaxy Bookshop, Hardwick, Vt., "will swap spaces with the Center for Agricultural Economy, and we will have a new home between the Buffalo Mountain Coop and Claire's Restaurant & Bar," wrote owner Linda Ramsdell in a letter to "customers, friends and neighbors." While acknowledging the myriad challenges faced by indie booksellers, she expressed excitement about relocating to "an area with more foot traffic, and especially at the possibilities for events in partnership with Claire's. Indeed, the new space will be smaller, but we are looking forward to inhabiting a retail space well suited to our inventory."
Ramsdell recalled opening Galaxy 23 years ago "in the small space I rented in The Old Firehouse. I had a cash register set on a card table, volumes of Books in Print given to me by the East Craftsbury Library, bookmarks I hand lettered at home at night, and several boxes of books, enough that ads in the Hardwick Gazette boasted 'over 100 titles in stock.' " More than two decades and a few additional moves later, "we find ourselves now in an entirely different bookselling environment," Ramsdell noted.
Having recently encountered the term "optimism bias," she said has chosen to embrace it: "I believe there is too much at stake to do otherwise. I believe bookstores play a vital role in the life of a town or city. Bookstores are where people, books, ideas and information can swirl and find each other. I believe that they are places of civic engagement that we cannot afford to lose. They are places where kids run around and scream about their favorite books, people meet the author they have long admired, customers connect with each other about books, and booksellers array collections of books for customers to respond to. It is my belief that a bookstore in downtown Hardwick still belongs."
