The Bookshelf\u2019s<\/a> \u201cstoried\u201d history. From 1 to 3 p.m., readers can meet Lynne Hugo, a New England author of thirteen novels, including Mothers of Fate and The Language of Kin, both of which are sold at the store. From 7 to 9 p.m., Cincinnati lawyer and writer Alissa Sammarco will have a launch party for her new book of poems, Italian Dinner Music. Wine and small bites will be provided.<\/p>\nThe Bookshelf\u2019s half-century of history dates back to 1975. The quaint shop was founded by three women\u2014Blair Garvey, Anne Harrison, and Gen Rosenkrantz\u2014who, with help from their families, stocked and built the store\u2019s bookshelves by hand. The Bookshelf remains in its original Camargo Station location but has since expanded to more than double its size, now totaling 1,400 square feet.<\/p>\n
Today, the store is run by partners Chris Weber, Darlene Ertel, and Bethany Streitmatter. The partners carefully curate a selection of old and new titles to fill their shelves, but according to Weber\u2014a partner for more than 27 years\u2014The Bookshelf has come to represent more than just a retail space. \u201cI think for us, it\u2019s a wonderful little place where we can come away from our outside lives\u2014it\u2019s home,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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Photograph courtesy The Bookshelf<\/p>\n
By making close relationships with customers, the partners will track down books not in their stock, tracking down hard-to-locate titles and even shipping books from across the world at no charge to their customers. According to Ertel, who became a partner earlier this year after visiting The Bookshelf for years as a customer, says part of the store\u2019s role is helping readers track down books they couldn\u2019t find elsewhere. \u201cWe will hunt down books for people when they are interested in something, even if it\u2019s something that\u2019s older or out of print,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Running an independent bookstore has meant adapting to the shifts in the industry, though, from the rise of online retailers, audiobooks, and Kindles, to general changes in reading habits. Yet, Weber says the shop\u2019s focus on personal connections has helped it persist. \u201cWe just had a customer that had a huge surgery, and we sent her a get well note,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t think Jeff Bezos is going to do that for somebody. That is who we are\u2014we know the families and it makes a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
That same approach comes into play when customers ask for suggestions. \u201cThe first thing I say to them is, what was the last book you read that you loved Or, where in the world do you want to travel to this week? What country do you want to go to?\u201d says Weber.<\/p>\n
Since its start, The Bookshelf has remained entirely women-owned\u2014a legacy that has remained central to the store\u2019s identity. More than a dozen women have served as partners over the years.<\/p>\n
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Photograph courtesy The Bookshelf<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of men who\u2019ve wanted to buy in, but we really feel that it would change the dynamic of who we are,\u201d says Weber.<\/p>\n
For Weber, marking the 50th anniversary is as much about looking back as looking forward. \u201cWe would not be here today if it wasn\u2019t for all of the women that went before us,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a long tribute to everybody that was here before us. It was their vision, and we embraced it and moved it along.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Store owners (from left to right) Chris Weber, Bethany Streitmatter, and Darlene Ertel. Photograph courtesy The Bookshelf The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-31268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bookshelf.jpeg\")
Store owners (from left to right) Chris Weber, Bethany Streitmatter, and Darlene Ertel.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG-0139-scaled-e1758048466395-240x300.jpg\")
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