Jen Blab, a former library staff member and bookstore manager, has purchased the new and used bookstore Hockessin BookShelf in Hockessin, Del. Blab bought the store from previous owner Rebecca Dowling, who is leaving Hockessin to start a new chapter of her life in California.
"The Hockessin BookShelf has become much more than a store," Blab said. "It is a community, connecting authors and readers, and readers of all ages and tastes with each other."
Most recently Blab worked at the Kennett Library in Kennett Square, Pa., and was acquisitions manager at Duke University's Medical Library. She was an English major at Auburn University and also managed a bookstore.
When Dowling announced in October that she would be closing the store to move to California, Blab was "devastated," she told Town Square Live. She remembered saying, "No, it can't close," and asked her husband if there was anything they could do about it. They talked, did some research into the store and the bookselling business, and made it official the day before Thanksgiving.
Dowling has been helping Blab learn the ropes, and Blab reported that customers have been so supportive. "There's just such an outpouring of support. They want to keep the store open."
Going forward, Blab doesn't plan to change very much about the 826-square-foot store and wants to continue Dowling's success.