Protagonist Books and Coffee — a women-owned, queer-owned, and author-owned independent bookstore and coffee shop — will be opening at 8 W. Main Street in Dryden on Sept. 3.

Protagonist Books and Coffee seeks to offer mainly fiction books, with diverse authors and stories to foster an inclusive space. The owners, Sam and Amber Gellar-Smith, a married couple who are both authors themselves, said one of the themes of the store is to allow customers to find their own story, and so they offer personalized recommendations.

“We aren’t beholden to different contracts with whatever’s being highly marketed,” Sam said. “We can choose our own books according to what we think is a good fit for the bookstore. That’s one of the huge benefits of independent bookstores, is you’re just able to make your selection the way you want to make it and you’re not driven by the commercial machine that’s behind Amazon and some of those big-box stores.”

In addition to the books on sale, the store has a cafe that will serve coffee and locally produced baked goods. It also hosts various events, such as author readings and board game nights, and serves as a “third space” apart from people’s homes and workplaces.

The store’s hours will be noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, with the store being closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so that people can come out to shop after dinner, and enjoy events without having to go to Ithaca or Cortland.

Sam and Amber had long discussed opening a bookstore, but had originally considered doing so in retirement. They ended up moving up their plans when North Carolina, where they lived until recently, passed the “Don’t Say Gay” laws in 2023, which Sam said created an environment more hostile to lesbians than when she first came out in the 1990s.

“As an author, I do a lot of school visits,” Amber said. “I was told that I wasn’t allowed to mention that I had a wife, because North Carolina had just passed these terrible ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws. Anyway, that was the point where we seriously considered that we wanted to move away into a more welcoming community.”

Sam and Amber went on a vacation to the Finger Lakes, and visited Ithaca for a week. They found Dryden to be more welcoming than Charlotte, North Carolina, so after seeing a beautiful home in Dryden, they put in an offer a day later.

“All of the different components really fell into place, so we decided to go for it,” Amber said.

Because of their experiences as a lesbian married couple, Sam and Amber want Protagonist Books & Coffee to be an inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

“We really know what it’s like to not feel welcome,” Amber said, “and so we want to make this space a very inclusive and welcoming space for people of all walks of life.”

Sam and Amber have been working on the store since January, preserving the historical character of a stone wall to the left of the front entrance, installing bathrooms and a rear entrance that are Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, andmaking other preparations. Some local residents have offered help, such as painting a sign to be used out front, giving hand-made coffee mugs, providing advice on getting food products for the cafe and giving other assistance.

“We all realize we’re working together, we’re not fighting each other for business, really,” Sam said, “and that’s great.”

Sam and Amber have applied for a grant to fund construction, but are paying for most of the expenses with their funds. According to Sam, this is a difficult time for construction because materials are expensive due to tariffs, post-COVID-19 pandemic shortages and other factors.

“We’ve paid more for the people working on our construction than we would back in Charlotte,” she said, “but we also recognize that they’re being paid fairly for their work, and they’re doing high-quality work, and we really appreciate that.”

Sam and Amber expressed their enthusiasm for sharing the happiness they have in their store with others.

“It’s been really exciting to see this dream starting to become a reality,” Amber said. “We’re really excited to share it with the community.”