Dark paint coats the walls of the Book Burrow, a new store opening this weekend on Merchants’ Row in Perryville.
Taylor Foster is the owner of the business, and her new endeavor is part of a growing trend of local bookstores opening across the country.
“I don't think there's anything more special and magical than holding a book in your hand and flipping the pages and just the sensory experience that you get whenever you're reading a book,” Foster said.
Opening day for the store is Aug. 22, and Foster said there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the morning and giveaways throughout the day as part of the event.
Her family has been supportive, she said, and her children, who she homeschools, love to read and helped get the store ready.
Foster and her husband considered opening a mobile bookstand, but when the store front on South Buell came open, it was obvious a brick and mortar operation was the move.
“I saw this building and I saw the post, I thought, ‘That's it,’” Foster said. “And I did not submit another business plan to anybody else. I did not look anywhere else. It was either this or nothing, and it all just kind of worked out like that.”
Boyle County has another local bookstore, Plaid Elephant Books. It primarily caters to children, but has an adult section.
Foster’s will stock for children and adults, new and “preloved.” There’s a section of “blind dates” with books wrapped in butcher paper. There’s scenery to evoke cozy fantasy, like an old fireplace with a cauldron inside, and it offers a Little Free Library for children.
“Our policy is that children have the opportunity to leave the bookstore with a book in their hand,” Foster said. “Now, whether they choose to or not is totally up to them, but that is something I really wanted to happen here.”
She’s working on getting an additional Little Free Library set up outside her shop, too.
“Because I grew up loving to read, and I never want money to be the reason why a child can't leave here without something to read,” Foster said. “We're not a library, but I like the idea of being able to give them the chance to find something to read here, and to have the experience of coming into the bookstore and leaving here with their own little bag and having that sense of pride of knowing that I have a book today that I get to read.”
Foster’s favorite book from kindergarten is Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, which she said planted a lifelong love of reading.
Most of Foster’s stock is for adults, however. She temporarily considered becoming a more niche fantasy bookstore to go with the Hobbit-inspired name, but wanted to offer something for everyone.
“One thing that does help us in the digital sense is having things like TikTok and social media. I think it helps kind of create the online community, and I feel like reading has really kind of picked back up in the last few years, especially,” Foster said.
The new shop owner is excited to have events like release parties and bring together the community around them.
“I know whenever I was a kid, I remember going to midnight release parties for books, like back in the day, there wasn't this big to-do,” Foster said. “You went to Walmart at midnight and you waited in line to get the next Harry Potter book, and so I think having those kinds of events all brings us together, and we can all kind of geek out about the books that we all enjoy together.”
She’s also working on a submission system for local authors to get their work stocked in her store.
Foster said she’s glad her business ended up getting a brick and mortar location so she could create a sense of community around it.
“My biggest goal is, and this is kind of our mission statement as well, is just to try to get as many books into as many hands as possible, and so I'm hoping that through community programming and events that we can help foster that,” Foster said.
