Congratulations to the Bookshelf, Madeira, Ohio, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary all day tomorrow, Saturday, September 20. Former store partners and several authors will help celebrate. Between 1 and 3 p.m., Lynn Hugo will sign copies of her books, including Mothers of Fate and The Language of Kin, and between 7 and 9 p.m., Alissa Sammarco will have the launch party for her new book of poetry, Italian Dinner Music.
As noted in Cincinnati magazine, "The quaint shop was founded by three women--Blair Garvey, Anne Harrison, and Gen Rosenkrantz--who, with help from their families, stocked and built the store's bookshelves by hand. The Bookshelf remains in its original Camargo Station location but has since expanded to more than double its size, now totaling 1,400 square feet...
"Today, the store is run by partners Chris Weber, Darlene Ertel, and Bethany Streitmatter. The partners carefully curate a selection of old and new titles to fill their shelves, but according to Weber--a partner for more than 27 years--The Bookshelf has come to represent more than just a retail space. 'I think for us, it's a wonderful little place where we can come away from our outside lives--it's home,' she says."
The Bookshelf has always been owned by women, more than a dozen altogether. "For Weber, marking the 50th anniversary is as much about looking back as looking forward," Cincinnati wrote. " 'We would not be here today if it wasn't for all of the women that went before us,' she says. 'It's a long tribute to everybody that was here before us. It was their vision, and we embraced it and moved it along.' "