Valerie Reece and Tom Jefferson have opened Too Fond of Books, a new and used bookstore with titles for all ages, in Tahlequah, Okla. The store, which has 1,200 square feet of selling space and carries around 70% new books, officially opened on June 25.
Too Fond of Books has a particularly strong emphasis on books for children and teens, with a special board book room and custom shelving for books for pre-readers. Beyond that emphasis on children's literature, Jefferson and Reece plan to rely on community feedback and requests to help them build the store's inventory. They are also committed to having affordable options at the store, including used books.
"We felt like the community really needed us to be cost conscious," said Jefferson. "We were very interested in the bookstore not as a source of income but as a resource for the community."
Jefferson noted that he is a big fan of poetry, while Reece loves British historical murder mysteries, and as the store grows they'd like to expand those collections. Reece, meanwhile, has led the charge on sidelines, sourcing a variety of book-related greeting cards, bookmarks and mugs from the website Faire.
Reece and Jefferson also plan to follow the community when it comes to planning events. They own a lot adjacent to the bookstore, which Jefferson said would "work nicely for outdoor readings or concerts." The idea is to "have the community identify needs that we can help fill."
While Jefferson and Reece are both lifelong readers, they are physicians by trade. They first started thinking about opening a store in 2018 after purchasing a commercial building in Tahlequah. With apartments upstairs and "half of the downstairs left over," they were trying to figure out what sort of business would make sense. Many people in the community suggested things like bars or boxing gyms, but Jefferson and Reece felt that wasn't the best idea given the residential units in the building. Said Jefferson: "We basically realized it would be really fun to sell books."
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In February 2019 they attended a Paz & Associates boot camp, and after doing more research and meeting others who were also interested in bookselling, they "felt like it was still where we wanted to go." They began to get the store ready while still working their day jobs, gradually bringing in bookshelves, renovating and decorating the space and creating signage and a logo. They moved full time to Tahlequah, where Reece grew up, in late 2019. In early 2020, however, "walk-in businesses went to Hades in a handbasket" with the start of the pandemic.
After that they "really backed off," feeling they were not sufficiently prepared to start the bookstore as an online-only business. For most of 2020, they simply bided their time, but started to acquire inventory toward the end of the year. As the pandemic began to ease in the spring, they felt they needed to start.
"Folks had been waiting a couple years very patiently," said Jefferson, laughing. "We weren't sure if their patience would wear out."
Despite the long wait, the community has been very supportive, and both Reece and Jefferson have been "pretty darn impressed" by the response. One of the first people to stop by on the store's first day was a member of the creative writing faculty at nearby Northeastern State University, who inquired about partnering with the store to host events.
Tahlequah happens to be the capital of the Western Cherokee Nation, and the store also received a visit from a Cherokee author who writes books in both English and Cherokee. The author inquired if Jefferson and Reece were interested in carrying any Cherokee language books, which they very much are. Looking ahead, they'd love to find ways to help support the Cherokee Nation's language preservation programs. Said Reece: "We want to be part of that solution if we can, if they need it."
Jefferson stressed that the "really important" thing is letting the community guide their efforts. "We don't want to lead the community but follow their interests and the community's growth." --Alex Mutter