Bookstore reopened at St. Pete Public Library

NS. Pete – It might seem strange to have a bookstore in the library, but St. Pete’s been a fairytale partnership for 15 years. Now the library says they don’t know what to do without a shop.

When I walked into the West Community Library on the SPC Give Campus, the first thing I saw was a bookstore that then had a pandemic and had to close.

Herb Polson has volunteered at the Friends of the Library bookstore since it opened in 2006.

“My wife came back from work and said, ‘How was your first day of retirement?’” I said, “I have a job,” I said, “I’ll start at the bookstore next week.” And I’ve been since then here, ”said Polson.

The library donates space, the public donates materials and volunteers donate time. That means all the pennies they earn can be returned to the library immediately.

“You funded public programs and I loved them because there aren’t many ways to fund public programs,” said librarian Sandra Gordon.

Gordon said his friend’s generosity was evident everywhere from furniture to television screens to works of art.

“This is the best you can do for your community, and we are grateful to you,” said Gordon.

To date, bookstores have raised over $ 75,000. One of their greatest contributions is the teenage room.

But like a villain from the horror story, the bookstore pandemic died and closed for over a year.

“They asked the staff, ‘When does it open, when does it open?'” Said Polson.

It was hard to make a comeback, they lost a few volunteers and are currently only open 3 days a week.

“We need to hire more people so we can return up to six days a week, just like the library is open,” said Polson.

Right now, Gordon is happy that the bookstore is back. She says every public library needs friends like that.

“Having a group of friends is especially one way to go to a public library because many of them don’t have the money to fund them,” Gordon said.