We don't just sell BOOKS; we sell memories.

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My first customer in the door this morning was a stylish, fifty-something tourist. She said, "I heard from the woman at the Diner that you sell used books."

I told her, yes, we sell new and used books, mixed in together.... they're organized by genre in the bookstore, then by age group and occasionally a few other subcategories.... and I asked her what she was looking for.

She told me she was looking for "an old book called 'Wynken, Blynken, and Nod'" .... I told her we don't have any used copies of that one; we sell it too often and no one trades it in. She looked crushed, until she realized I was going to show her where the NEW copies are.

Her son and his wife are having their first baby, you see. "I always read to my kids growing up, of course," she said. "But the last thing we read, every night, before bed.... oh, I'm going to tear up now," she apologized, although I don't know why. I get it. We all get it, here. There are certain books, certain stories or poems, that are woven with important memories and rituals in our lives, that they tug deep. And we want to share them.

The new grandma-to-be wants HER son to be able to read "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" every night to HER new grandson, and carry on this lovely tradition.

I love that Wellsboro has the statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, and has therefore helped to keep this wonderful poem-lullaby in print. But even more, I love that books have that power in our lives, and that, as booksellers, as owners and purveyors of an indie bookstore, we get to be a part of that passion, that power, that joy.