Congratulations to The Golden Notebook in Woodstock, N.Y., which is celebrating its 40th anniversary on Saturday, September 15, with an all-day party featuring sales and giveaways. The first 40 people in store will receive a free copy of Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, which were donated to the store by HarperCollins, and from 3-5 p.m. there will be a party with birthday cake, balloons and the store's semi-annual sale.
In 1978, founders Ellen Shapiro and Barry Samuels named the store after Shapiro's favorite Doris Lessing novel. The two ran the store for the next 32 years, before deciding to retire in 2010. Although they initially had trouble finding a buyer, Jacqueline Kellachan and Paul McMenemy stepped in to buy the store just before it would have closed for good in September 2010. In 2015, James Conrad purchased half of the business along with the building that the Golden Notebook has inhabited since 1978.
Next year, Conrad and Kellachan plan to renovate the store in order to "enhance the experience of shopping and interacting with our many customers," as well as establish a scholarship for local students interested in pursuing careers in creative writing, literature and publishing.