Surprise! It's your birthday in the age of social distancing (aka physical distancing). Later this month I turn 70, an oddly significant number in the Covid-19 era. Statistically, I'll enter a more vulnerable age group. Numbers like this are an illusion, I get it, but still....
Maybe that's why I've been thinking about birthdays. One of our ongoing Shelf Awareness features highlights indie bookstores for achieving certain landmark anniversaries. We usually begin with: "Congratulations to (name of store), which is celebrating its (#) anniversary...."
Celebration, however, is not a word in common usage right now, though congratulations should still be. Yesterday, we noted that King's Books, Tacoma, Wash., was marking its 20th anniversary. Marking is a good word for the time being.
So, congratulations to Dudley's Bookshop Café, Bend, Ore, which is marking its fifth year anniversary since being purchased by Tom Beans, who wrote: "Sitting here in a quiet, shuttered shop, listening to some live 70s Allman Brothers, fielding the occasional phone call, trying to track e-mails and messages from all points of social media, hoping they might be an order for a book or two isn't exactly how I saw this day playing out.
"Visions of a big sale, an evening of live music and, most importantly, a store packed full of wonderful folks from all reaches of our little community quickly fell by the wayside 2.5 weeks ago when we took the preemptive action to close the shop in the interest of public safety. The Governor's order a week later reinforced my thoughts that this was the right thing to do and as this crisis continues to escalate, I'll stand by that decision....
"Many of you have been so incredibly loyal over the last five years that I now feel like it's my responsibility to return that loyalty. I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that Dudley's is here for you whenever our lives return to some semblance of normalcy. Keep calling and e-mailing us your requests. Keep shopping online with us. If you can do that, I'll do my part and, together, we'll keep this ship afloat till we can reconvene in the downtown space we all love and cherish. All the best and stay safe."
And congratulations to the Book Loft, Solvang, Calif., which is marking 50 years in business. Just two weeks ago, the Santa Ynez Valley Star reported that the bookshop was "rolling out a year-long stream of events and specials," with owner Kathy Mullins saying that running the store "has given me over the past 50 years a wonderful sense of community. Interacting with the public and sharing my love of books in this beautiful Valley has been and continues to be a blessing."
A week later, the Book Loft's Facebook post reflected how quickly things changed: "Thank you for your patience while we have been determining the best way to work with the community to keep you supplied with books, puzzles, and games. Great news! We have come up with a plan that will allow curbside pick-up, mail order, and local delivery.... For everyone's safety, we cannot allow anyone inside the store for browsing at this time. But we are confident that we can continue to provide wonderful items to you through the above options. As always, keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram for some great book and activity ideas. We wish you well."
At Shelf Awareness, we usually acknowledge bookstore anniversaries at five-year intervals, but I'm breaking that rule to share excerpts from the latest Bookstories letter by Gayle Shanks, co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe and Phoenix, Ariz., which marked its 46th anniversary April 1.
"In spite of the gorgeous spring weather and my yard overflowing with an abundance of color, my world--like yours, I suspect--is feeling discombobulated and weird," she wrote, noting: "Who would have imagined that 46 years later, we'd have to temporarily close the doors because of a pandemic? Your response to our temporary closure has been phenomenal. We are so grateful for your support, which is enabling us to keep our staff on the payroll filling your online orders and sending out our Booklover Care Packages....
"I feel it's more important than ever that we all stay connected--as a community and as readers.... I speak for my employees, my partners, my leadership team, and my small business colleagues around the country when I suggest that, while we're all staying home practicing social distancing, we make every effort to shop local websites rather than instantly clicking on Amazon. The locally owned businesses in our community need our support if they are to keep their employees on the payroll and reopen their stores and restaurants again for you when the coast is clear."
It seems inconceivable that just over two months ago, Gayle and I were having a wonderful conversation at a Melville House dinner in Baltimore during Wi15. We talked about old times, great reads present and upcoming, the future of the book trade and much more. We did not talk about this.