The Bookseller Goes to College

SKY at college, IN THE LIBRARY.

Sky writes…

You know how the saying goes - you can take a girl out of a bookshop, but—

No, wait. That doesn’t really work.

Well, you can take the bookseller out of a girl, but—

No. That’s not possible either.

The more time I spend at college away from Skylark, the more I realize how close I am to the bookshop. One of my favorite places to read on campus is tucked away on the top floor of the library, in an armchair by the window . . . There aren’t skylights, but when it rains, sometimes it feels exactly the same as our armchairs upstairs, both surrounded by nonfiction and the smell of books.

I walked into the cafeteria to have lunch with friends a few days ago, and they left with books I had been saving for them. It made me stop and think - I don’t just read for myself anymore. I love what I read, and I will always read for myself, but I read for others now too. I read for the bookshop and all of you who visit us. I read for my friends and one of my favorite professors who all trade book recommendations with me every time I need to just calm down and not think for a bit.

And this is the real reason you can’t take a girl out of a bookshop. Because a bookshop isn’t really a place, it’s a community. And if you take a girl out of a community, she’ll just build a whole new one up around her.