Blue Apple Books, an all-ages, general-interest bookstore and benefit corporation, is opening this week in Madison, Ala., the Madison Record reported.
Store owner Robin Dauma, who previously worked as an educator for close to 30 years, will hold a ribbon cutting for the bookstore on Wednesday, September 18. Alongside books, the store carries stationery and literary-themed gifts, and there is a small events space that community members can rent.
Dauma noted that her event plans include crafts workshops, author signings, poetry readings, and storytimes. She expects event programming to be in full-swing by mid-October.
"A locally owned, independent bookstore can meet a need in the community that no other entity can," Dauma told the Madison Record. "Like many forms of art, reading good books brings a universal sense of awe, unity, and empathy that can transcend differences."
Located at 14 Main St. in downtown Madison, the store incorporates a space that previously belonged to South & Pine, a home decor and gifts store that Dauma bought in July. Blue Apple Books will continue to feature South & Pine products as well as the work of local artists and artisans.
Dauma said she's long dreamed of having a bookstore of her own, and her love for indie bookstores like Square Books in Oxford, Miss., helped inspire that dream. The bookstore's name, she explained, comes from a phrase she used to use with her students. "Biting blue apples," she said, meant trying something new and stepping out of one's comfort zone.