Profile by Candice Huber, SIBA Membership Coordinator

Blacksburg Books is a shop in downtown Blacksburg in Virginia offering new and used books, locally-made drinks, snacks, and crafts, and a community space to browse, meet with friends, and find engaging new things to read and think about. In November 2020, owner Laurie Kelly mentioned in a local Facebook group that she was planning to open a bookstore in town, and the positive response was overwhelming. The bookstore opened its doors in August 2021.

Store Manager Ellen Woodall said that the best thing about being a bookseller is making recommendations! Ellen said, “The process of asking [customers] about their likes and dislikes, hobbies, interests, and then finding them the PERFECT book is one of the best things in the world.”

Blacksburg does some really fun community projects. In their Community Poetry Project, they pick a different topic each week and ask customers to write a few lines in a notebook at the store. At the end of the week, they consolidate and edit those lines into a poem! They just published a book of the first year of poems. They also do “Field Trip Fridays,” where they take a selection of books and snap photos of them at another local business, then post on social media. This is a way to highlight some of the other local spots in town as well as show off their favorite books. They have also donated over 300 new books to the Appalachian Prison Project!

About SIBA, Ellen said, “The Southern Booksellers (sic) Review is super helpful to me when I'm ordering for the store. It's great to discover books that weren't on my radar and read what other booksellers liked about them.”

You can follow Blacksburg Books on Instagram @blacksburg_books or on Facebook. Visit their website at https://www.blacksburgbooks.com/.