Name: Lyn Roberts

Store and location: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi

website || facebook || twitter || instagram

 

Number of years as a bookseller: 30 years

Best part about being a bookseller: Books and people and inhabiting that sweet spot where the two meet each other.

What book(s) are you reading:
Aaron Thier, THE WORLD IS A NARROW BRIDGE.

Favorite handsell of 2017: Hannah Tinti, THE TWELVES LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY

Best thing you did this year at your store:
Lots of good things happened in 2017. Our state has two tax-free holidays each year, one for back to school and the other is a "2nd Amendment" sales tax holiday on guns and ammunition. We began lobbying for a "1st Amendment" sales tax holiday and offer a discount to offset the sales tax on the same weekend as the gun sales tax holiday. It's a positive way to show what is important to us and start a conversation.

Social Media Stats (FB likes, Twitter followers, etc)
Facebook: 10k | Twitter: 12k | Instagram: 9.1k

What are some ways you work with your community?
We try to get books to kids. We send authors to the schools when we can and we work with the Lafayette County Literacy Council and other groups to bring an author into town to speak to the 1st and 5th grades. Every student in the county in those grades will receive a free copy of that author's book to keep.

Top priority going into 2018:
It's the same priority every year---be better. That means continuing to provide staff with all the tools they need to be informed about books and make sales. It means reaching out to our community on an individual and group level. It means updating our website so we can give customers the best online experience and encourage them to come to the store. It's having the best curated inventory. It means having strong relationships with authors in our local community and in the larger book industry community. It means fostering healthy relationships and open communication lines with publishers.

Favorite SIBA programming benefit:
I really appreciate the community and access to the combined knowledge of so many booksellers, so the listserv is my favorite.