Eastside Lansing bookstore Everybody Reads is more than a bookstore, it’s a community center. And it recently upped its community presence by creating a portal with next door neighbor, the Gone Wired Cafe.
According to excerpts from the article:
Everybody Reads’ spirit of inclusiveness goes way further than the first word in the store’s name. If you take just a few minutes to explore the store, you’d find bookshelves stocked with some of the most contemporary works on social justice, history, literature, religion, cooking and on and on.
Naomi Klein’s newest book shares a table with Forbes magazine; a few rows away is a shelf displaying cutting-edge vegan and vegetarian cookbooks; and up the aisle a blue yard sign with the word “Peace” in big, bold letters. The clerks are friendly and helpful. Patrons curl up inchairs throughout the store browsing through books. For owner and founder Scott Harris, this is just the way it was meant to be. The store opened in May 2006, and was born out of a dream Harris shared with his now deceased wife — a family tragedy that gave Harris a reason to open the store.
Harris was formerly employed in the car insurance industry, but he gave it up because he couldn’t justify the way insurance was being priced. So he took a job as a substitute teacher, which in a sense gave him opportunity to see the light about opening the bookstore. On the second day of a two-day assignment as a sub, one of his student’s parents passed away. Harris recommended he go to Ele’s Place, which offers support to those in mourning.
Read the entire article here.
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