Photo by Edward Jocque A world of wonder: A reading corner is pictured at the Everybody Reads Bookstore on Michigan Avenue. Owner Scott Harris started the store to carry out a dream he shared with his late wife to open a bookstore.

Students host drive for bookstore

Drive will help section of store created to promote literacy

Zane McMillin
News Editor

LCC students have chosen to sponsor a local bookstore for a mandatory class project.
Trish Martens and a group of four other students chose to sponsor the bookstore for their Dynamics of Communication class by hosting a book drive this month.
“In our class, we wanted to impact the community using communication,” said Martens.
The group is asking that anyone drop off gently used books at the bin located at Hole in the Wall on the first floor of the Gannon Vocational building.
There they can register their name for a drawing to be held on the last day of this month.
“I ran fliers off and wondered, ‘How am I going to get college kids to participate?’” said Martens.
Martens traveled around town and asked the Temple Club, Connxtions Comedy Club and NCG Cinemas for prizes to be handed out for the drawing. As a result, she was given six tickets to the Temple Club, four tickets to Connxtions, and two tickets to NCG.
“I thought that would give incentive for college kids to participate,” said Martens.
The books will benefit the Everybody Reads bookstore located on Michigan Avenue, next to the Green Door. The owner, Scott Harris, started the store to carry out a dream shared by his late wife and him to start a bookstore.
“Years and years ago I worked in insurance. My wife and I had shared a dream to open up a bookstore,” said Harris.
The dream seemed less tangible as large-scale bookstores were constructed in the area, such as the two area Barnes & Nobles and Schuler Books.
Four years ago, Harris’ wife passed away suddenly. She is survived by Harris and their two small children.
“I sold the practice and the kids and I went through Ele’s Place,” said Harris, mentioning the area center for families experiencing grief and loss.
“It was a chance for (my) kids to feel disarmed,” said Harris, “Just knowing there were others going through what you are helped out a lot.”
After a while, the idea of the bookstore started to germinate, said Harris.
“We knew we needed to do two things to make this work out,” he said, “First, we needed to work with underserved markets. Second, we need to serve as a conduit for people with specific needs.”
Harris has stuck true to this original goal; the store offers an expansive array of materials ranging in subject and, to Harris’s delight, voice. “Our biggest strength is that we have books from around the world, spoken with different voices,” said Harris.
The store has been open for four months. The grand opening was on June 17. It has a meeting room that it offers free of charge.
“We want each book to be there for a reason,” said Harris, “We hand-pick them because they need to be useful to people, not too scholarly or esoteric.”
Martens recalled the day that Harris visited the class.
“He was just floored,” she said, “He was so appreciative of what we were doing.”