The hopeful reason behind Charlotte’s indie bookstore boom | Opinion

If you’re short on hope or in need of a mood lift – and, oh boy, who’s not? – I offer a suggestion: Go to an independent bookstore.

If you think we live in a society where people don’t talk with their neighbors or no one puts their phone down to read an actual book, I beg of you: Go to an independent bookstore.

This month is an ideal time to do so. The Greater Charlotte Book Crawl includes a record 25 stops this year. These shops — these little havens of hope — are full of people who defy cynical narratives about The World Today. Many shops even defy expectations of traditional bookstores, feeling more like neighborhood living rooms. At Fred and Junes Books in Mooresville, you can attend story times with therapy dogs or take crocheting classes. Belmont Bookshop hosts board game nights between their bookshelves. At That’s Novel Books in Camp North End, more than 100 people gather at silent book clubs simply to read near one other.

These stores offer such wonderful hope. Reading, gathering, creating! People are hungry for this.

While plenty of articles and experts discuss why we all need a strong sense of community and what we can gain from it, fewer discuss the reverse: what we owe each other to create that sense of community. Community doesn’t just happen; we build it with countless decisions we make each day: what to prioritize, how to engage. It requires something of us. The people who resist one-click buy on Amazon to show up at an indie bookstore know this. But shopping there is no act of charity. Even more than indie bookstores need us, we need them. They’re about even more than books.

Troubadour Booksellers in East Charlotte is my regular bookstore, as well as my idea of a good afternoon: to be in a place where I’m welcomed by name, where strangers smile at each other and exchange hellos, where books matter. There, I browse titles, then settle into a sunny table by the window to page through a few books to figure out what’s coming home with me. By the time I leave Troubadour, I’m happier than I was when I walked in, even on a day that was plenty happy already. A little bit of magic happens in there.

Troubadour opened two years ago, yet owner Scott Tynes-Miller still sees new customers mixed in with his regulars every day. Ten book clubs meet there, as varied as Grave Tales (horror), Booked and Blushing (romance), and The Village (parenting). When customers ask for a new book club, he works to make that happen. When customers ask for more books in a certain genre, he works to make that happen, too. He wants the shop to reflect the diversity of the neighborhood around it, to be a place where everyone feels welcome.

“Many people really want that human connection with people who share this part of the world with us, and I think that many people who come in here are craving that,” Tynes-Miller says. “We try to connect with every single person who comes in. We’re ready to provide recommendations, and a lot of times that’s when you sense that someone’s feeling heard and seen and listened to. An algorithm can’t do that.”

Shopping at local bookstores may not cure every problem, but I insist that they’re a nice place to start. For one, books! Research shows that reading books builds empathy, critical thinking, and concentration – skills that are superpowers right now. Supporting local bookstores also supports our local economy – not just the owners and employees, but also the local writers and artists whose works are sold there. And, perhaps most of all, these bookstores are lovely places to meet lovely people. I’m biased, but book people tend to be pretty great people.

Sure, it’s easier to click than to shop, it’s easier to scroll than to read. But there’s a reason why indie bookshops are so popular in Charlotte, especially now. They offer a return to friction, a way to make one task a little harder to make our lives a little richer. Many of us have realized what we gave up in the name of one-click purchases, and we’ve found a better way. The strength of a community is about the strength of its connections and the power of its ideas; both are in ample supply at indie bookstores. Visiting one may not save the world, but it can help you feel connected to your little corner of it.

Jen McGivney is a former columnist for Charlotte Magazine.