It’s the last weeks of summer and you are making time to read. You just got a great recommendation from a friend and you want to get the book right away. You can go to Amazon and get it the next day. But wait! Pause for a brief PSA on behalf of all the local bookstores around the country. Please consider going to your local bookstore to get the book. It may take a few more days. And yes, you will need to go get it. But you are supporting a small business. And that small business is what’s keeping your town and community vibrant. 

Here in the small town of Belmont, where Cindy and I have raised our families, there is a great independent bookstore called Belmont Books. It has a coffee shop inside called Black Bear Cafe where the croissants are fresh and the tables are always full. It’s a place to find great books for all ages and interests and to find thank you and birthday cards, stationery and pretty pens, journals, puzzles, games and more. It’s also a place where you always run into someone you know, a friend, acquaintance or neighbor, and that’s what builds community. And we could all use more of that.

Funny little small world story. I met and got to know the owner of Belmont Books, Kathy Crowley, on my college Freshman floor years ago. We lost touch after she transferred to another college and our paths diverged. One day, I hear through a mutual friend that Kathy is living somewhere in the Boston area. I look her up and we’re living in the same town! We meet for coffee and catch up and she tells me of her plans to open a bookstore with her husband. I was so excited.

Belmont Books is now a reality and a wonderful destination. Kathy and her husband, Chris Abouzeid, opened the store five years ago and our town couldn’t be happier to have them here. It makes me doubly happy every time I buy a book from them to know I’m supporting a friend. 

Happy summer reading!