Bookstore Spotlight: Townie Books in Crested Butte, CO
Back in 2009, Arvin and Danica Ramgoolam opened Rumors Coffee and Tea House in Crested Butte, CO - a small mountain town with a population of less than 2,000. And back then they didn’t have any original intentions to be booksellers. But the book gods had other plans.
In those early days there was a bookstore named Blue Moon Books connected to Rumors, and when it went out of business in 2011, Arvin and Danica decided to take over the books side of the building as well. And that’s when Townie Books was born. There was already a bookstore in the same building, after all, and I imagine it was clear from the very beginning that there was some pretty great symbiosis between the coffee and books!
Arvin and Danica are also both writers, so the fit was pretty natural after all. In fact, Danica wrote the popular picture book displayed prominently by the cash register - Goodnight Crested Butte. And part of her inspiration may or may not have been how many people walked into the store asking for a kids book about Crested Butte! (All bookstores know this phenomenon well, so it’s best to have a good answer ready!)
Not too long after opening their stores, Arvin and Danica had twin girls. And I personally suspect becoming parents plays a role in the quality of Townie Books’ children’s section! Danica let me know that one of the ways she picks kids books for the store is by finding ones she wants to read to her kids. I can speak from experience how valuable it can be to be intimately familiar with the books your kids love, and I can also speak from experience how good Danica is at curating the kids section!
(As an aside, I asked Danica for her current favorite picture book recommendation, and she pointed out The River That Wolves Moved by Mary Cay Carson and illustrated by David Hohn.)
Despite the fact that businesses in Crested Butte thrive on the tourist seasons - especially during the summer months when lots of families flood into town - Townie Books is only closed 2 days a year (1 day for Christmas and 1 for inventory). It’s nice to know that basically whenever our family comes into town, Townie Books will be open and ready to explore.
And every single time we do walk into Townie Books, I’m impressed with the curation of the children’s section. The children’s section takes up roughly half of the entire bookshop, which is definitely my kind of ratio. I don’t think you often see a 50/50 split these days between kids and adults. It seems like bookstores that carry books for all ages often greatly favor the adult selections - so maybe that’s part of the reason Townie Books is special to us.
And it’s not just the amount of kids books that’s impressive - but the quality of the selections as well. Curation is subjective, of course, but it’s nice to bump into a kindred bookstore spirit. It’s wonderful to talk to booksellers like Jen, a former librarian and teacher, who adores everything The Fan Brothers produce as much as we do. And, I kid you not, two different employees in two consecutive years have recommended the spectacular The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld. Tell me, how many bookstores always have a copy of Sparky! by Jenny Offill and Chris Appelhans? You just don’t find good taste like that everywhere!
Townie Books is also a kindred spirit when it comes to their limited space. They cram their kids books and sidelines into every nook and cranny, and try to stock options for kids of all ages - from board books all the way through young adult. But they obviously have to be selective with their choices as well, and pay attention to what their young customers are looking for.
Jen pointed out to us that it’s the graphic novel section that has grown, including a new section for early graphic novels. And I must admit it does my heart good to hear more confirmation from booksellers about graphic novel love. And Danica says it’s common for sections to grow along with the age of her kids - a phenomenon I’m very familiar with!
And I think their graphic novel section is a particularly wonderful example of the curation at Townie Books. With a limited number of short shelves dedicated for the purpose, they really have to pick and choose favorites to stock. In fact, there are at least 3 graphic novels that we’ve purchased from Townie Books - including the graphic novel of Roald Dahl’s The Witches - that we ended up carrying in Dad Suggests just a few months later.
Townie Books is one of those bookstores we have trouble leaving without piles of new kids books. I’ve always said that it’s extremely hard as a parent to say no to books when the kids ask for them - and it seems this still hasn’t changed despite owning our own boosktore! When it comes to kids and their love for books - it always seems best to strike while the iron is hot. And I’ll always be thankful for our pilgrimages to Townie Books and the role they’ve played with our kids’ excitement about reading.
Have you ever visited Townie Books in Crested Butte, CO? Do you have an equally positive report about their kids book selections? Let us know in the comments!
