Name: Dave Shallenberger

Store and location: Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia

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Number of years as a bookseller: We opened 13 years ago and that's when I first became a bookseller

Best part about being a bookseller?: Interacting with superb co-workers and wonderful customers, all of whom never cease to amaze me with their friendliness, intelligence, wit, and love of the written word.

What book(s) are you reading?:
I've just about finished The Shades by Evgenia Citkowitz (6/19/18), which is superb, The Family Tabor (7/17/18) by Cherise Wolas which was also quite good, Felicity by Mary Oliver, and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman which is just as entertaining as everyone told me.

I run our Poetry & Wine group. Next month we'll be discussing The Way Under the Way by Mark Nepo.
Just starting: The Brother by Rein Raud.

It's been a marathon, but my "Friday afternoon sitting at the bar and having a beer" book is Ron Chernow's Grant. (It's one of my favorite times of the week for two reasons.)

On deck: OK, Mr. Field by Katherine Kilalea (7/17/18)

Favorite handsell of 2017: Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder. The book, a middle-grade novel which was longlisted for a National Book Award, was creative and challenging, raising moral and philosophical questions. (What a great thing for a kids' book to do!) Laurel is local and we love her. We're thrilled that her Charlie and Mouse won the Geisel Award this year.

Picture Book
Sarabella's Thinking Cap by Judy Schachner. It's all about creativity and finding your own unique way. I always love Judy's illustrations.

Middle Grade
Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder. Laurel's newest novel was longlisted for a National Book Award and was creative and challenging, raising moral and philosophical questions. (What a great thing for a kids' book to do!) Laurel is local and we love her. We're thrilled that her Charlie and Mouse won the Geisel Award this year.

YA
Dear Martin by Nic Stone. Nic is also a local author and this is her rather stunningly excellent debut novel. I very much look forward to her future work.

Best thing you did this year at your store:
In the past year I served on the Indies Introduce and the Indies Choice / E.B. White Read-Aloud Book Awards panels. It's been a great opportunity to read numerous excellent books and converse with fellow booksellers from all over the country.

Social Media Stats (FB likes, Twitter followers, etc)
Web site: averages about 8,500 page views per month
Email newsletter subscribers: 7,742
Facebook: 8,357 likes
Instagram followers: 3,250
Twitter followers: 2,688

What are some ways you work with your community?
We're extremely engaged with our local community and always try to find more ways to do so. Little Shop hosts four storytimes each week and nine book groups each month. We send authors and hold many, many bookfairs at schools in the Atlanta area. We have our own Summer Reading Program with rewards from local businesses. About 600 kids sign up every year. We run nine weeks of (mostly) book-themed camps every summer. Little Shop has been intimately involved in the Decatur Book Festival since its inception. On The Same Page is our community-read program in which we encourage families to read the same book. We work with a number of local organizations to distribute several hundred free books to kids who might not be able to afford them. The finale features an author visit. Little Shop also installs the community Christmas Tree on our roof each Christmas season. The annual tree lighting, complete with a visit from Santa and a performance of a school choir, draws hundreds of folks.

Top priority going into 2018:
Mine is to improve the appearance of the shop. Little Shop expanded into an adjoining space about 18 months ago and we've been working on integrating the look with our established space. We've been covering our floor with pennies (4+ years and counting). One of our employees, Jason, has finished our Goodnight Moon room, complete with replicas of the paintings, a fireplace mantle, green and yellow curtains ... the whole bit! Now we'll expand the focus to the exterior, installing planters with flowers and maybe doing some painting to make our shop look more inviting.