There are several things I have learned from my time working in an indie bookstore. Some of them are pretty basic. Like, be nice, be helpful, be respectful, stand up to help a customer, greet everyone, up-sell EVERYTHING, take in what sells, try to get rid of what we won’t, smile, clean up behind yourself, help your coworkers, and the list goes on.
However, there many things in indie bookselling that can’t be taught. One of my favorite things about going into an independent bookstore is the wonderful customer service. I’m not talking about the person who asks you if you need help because it is there job. I’m talking about the bookseller who asks you if you need help because they WANT to help. This is the kind of bookseller who loves their job. They love the freedom of selling anything and everything under the sun. They treat Danielle Steele books with as much respect as Jane Austen books. This is the kind of bookseller that is 100% genuinely in the moment, selling books.
This is the kind of bookseller I strive to be. I’m not saying I’m always perfect. I have my moments when I don’t want to be at work and when I don’t want to sell another Danielle Steele book. I WANT to be the bookseller that loves my job. Generally, I do. However, it’s more than just loving my job. Even when I have a day when I don’t want to be here I strive to work as hard as possible and make my customers feel as special as possible. This is where the spirituality comes in. No matter what, the point for me is to be in every moment and try my best to help the customer be satisfied with the service we provide.
While providing excellent customer service is important I also find it imperative to work with the books on a spiritual level. I try my best to treat each book with respect, while keeping my eyes open for a variety of books for the bookstore. The point to me is to treat everyone and everybody with the same high standard as I would treat myself. This also means, relinquishing my idea of what is good and allowing the ideas of my co-workers to be just as valid and important. For a long time I felt as if I was the only one who could do a good job and I was the only one who could get anything done properly. This was the wrong idea to have. I believe that the most powerful people are the people who allow others to work at the same level, or an even higher level than themselves. By letting go of my control I allowed for an even higher standard of bookselling to take place.
By providing an open space for ideas as well as love for what I do I create a space for spirituality in bookselling. I believe this is the goal of indie bookselling. Big box bookstores don’t get it. They may provide a good selection of books, but they aren’t open to anything and everything that is available. They provide customer service, but because they are so large they can’t take the time to know each customer individually. Nor do they believe in what they are selling, they are working for the numbers and not the books. Indie booksellers don’t do it for the money. They provide books and excellent customer service because they LOVE what they do. They believe in what they sell, because they are selling the freedom to read anything from Danielle Steele to Jane Austen. They provide space for community and family, while promoting the love of books.
