New books and fliers for upcoming events crowd the inside window of BookPeople of Moscow. Inside the store, there is a couple talking about all of the books they see. Another man looks for used poetry books.
Carol Price, co-owner and manager of BookPeople, came into the store after helping set up a book fair at West Park Elementary School.
“One of the things I really appreciate is that our customers are really a wide variety of people from all different walks of life. We have families with little kids, we have retired people, but we also have college students, and I really appreciate the students who come downtown to buy their books and take the time to talk to me,” Price said.
In 2011, the previous owner of BookPeople retired and moved to Portland. Price, her now ex-husband and another couple decided to take on the role of co-owners, with Price working as manager.
Price said running the store takes a combination of skills, like event planning, management, people skills and accounting.
She said she is a lifelong bookworm who has always wanted to own a bookstore. Several years ago, she got her chance.
“I’ve always imagined I’d have a bookstore someday. I’ve worked in libraries and bookstores at various times as an adult after I got out of college,” Price said.
Price said running a bookstore is more work than she expected. She added the work is satisfying nonetheless.
“I love playing a role and having a space in town where people can come and shop for books. And we have events here and it’s really nice, like when the store has people in it, friends run into each other here, parents bring their children here and they’ll be reading books back here, so there’s a lot of different social interactions that take place here and that makes me really happy,” Price said.
Playing a role is something Price said she loves to do and running the bookstore gives her that chance.
Devin Baker, a University of Idaho student, said she likes strolling through BookPeople during her free time.
“They were really nice, the lady at the store told me about a book like ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Baker said she appreciates the wide variety of novels presented in the shop. She said BookPeople houses almost anything the average bookworm could want.
“It is a nice little bookstore,” Baker said. “It’s quaint and they always ask if you need help.”
Kali Nelson can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kalinelson6