When I was a teenager I worked in a library, returning books to their shelves. A little tip, leave a little room every few books, not just at the end! If you get new books from an author starting with an E for example, you won't have to slide EVERYTHING over.
You girls are doing an amazing job. I have been a customer of Spare Time Books for over 24 years. I live in Paso Robles. I brought my daughter's in and now my granddaughters.
Really enjoying watching ya'lls progress! Something to consider when organizing shelves though... as a customer browsing, I would rather be able to stand in one spot and see all of a genre in front of me on multiple shelves (like on a single book case) vs having to walk down the whole aisle and bump into other people bc the genre runs down one shelf.
Totally understandable! Our customers so far have really liked having one shelf per subgenre, and we’re rarely packed to the point that people are bumping into each other while browsing, especially because we’re opening up the floor space by demolishing the old free-standing shelves, so there’s plenty of room for people to move around. This system makes it easier for us to alphabetize/organize and also visualize how many more books we’re able to put out at a time since we’re limited to one shelf per category (for the most part). But we really appreciate your input and support! 💖
It's so cool seeing your bookshop come together! I would love to visit if I ever get the chance (I am from Oregon so it is not TOTALLY out of the question). Also, I love living vicariously through these videos, as in my head I would love to own a bookshop, but I think in the end, owning a bookshop myself would take away from my enjoyment of reading. Your store seems like everything I look for in a used bookshop; I love mass-market paperbacks and well-used books :)
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment!! How sweet! We would love to meet you one day 🤗 And we know what you mean about losing your love for reading by working with books all day. I feel that way sometimes but it’s only because of our renovations and reorganizing being so overwhelming right now, but luckily this is temporary and once we’re more settled in, we’ll be able to fully enjoy reading again hehe
I love your bookstore and I have to say I think having this much of patience is a gift of God I can't imagine myself organizing all those books, good luck😊 from Tehran, Iran 🇮🇷🌹
Looking spiffy. Might I suggest for the opposite wall, non-fiction and whatnot, that you go 11.5-12 inches between each shelf, especially for the bottom couple of shelves? Some go larger, but since standard paper is 11 inches at the longest end this would give you the most options. Plus there’s space if you need more room for picture books.
Is not clean romance just a subgenre of romance? Since you have the rest of the shelf free, why not keep the different sub-genres of romance together on the same shelf? You can identify the difference the same way you plan on identifying the difference between the rest of the genres. From a shopping experience this tends to be less confusing. Also, traditionally, Sci-Fi and Fantasy are shelved together.
I'm loving these videos! Hopefully you don't mind if I borrow an idea or two from your bookshop for my own home library... love the idea of a feature wall painted a different colour to really make the books "pop"! Thanks for the inspiration ladies :)
Omg floral shop? Indie bookshop? It feels like a movie, I know you have heard this a lot but you are living my dream! And love the green you used. I painted my windows on the same tone 🤍
Just stumble across your RUclips channel. Could you introduce yourself and tell us about how you came to buy a bookshop? And while you are working on making international shiping available, would you consider selling book recommendations sort of a mystery pack where I tell you I love classical crime like Agatha Christi and historical fiction like The book theft by Markus Zusak and The hundred-year-old man who climed out of the window and disappeared by Jonas Johnson. Then you pick out a couple or more suggestions for me and then I will have to find them myself i.e in a library or as an audio book (my primary choice).
Well that wall is looking divine! I think people will be coming in to take selfies in front of it. Will you be painting the yellow ducting on the roof? I think black ceiling with black ducting would be very discrete and classy 🖤
Thank you so much! We’re very happy with our progress so far 🙂 We are planning on painting the ceiling and ductwork. Originally we wanted to do a constellation ceiling but our property manager does not want us to paint it dark, so we’re thinking now light blues and golds up there would be nice, perhaps copper for the ducts! We shall see! 🤩
Oh love that! We have a very beautiful mini gramophone that was gifted to us that we have out playing pretty music and it’s a great conversation starter, too! We’ll have to show it off in the next video!
Nice work! If you painted the shelves the same color as the wall, the books would pop-out more, as the shelf would blend with the wall, giving all the focus on the colored books. :)
Great work by all of you and the shop is looking so much better. Have you thought about painting all the shelves black as it would look so good next to the green wall and the black would also hide the black brackets a too. It's so good to see it all coming together in such a great way for you all.
I love starting my day with a new video from you! Your shop is really coming together and looking fantastic - can't wait to see more of the transformation. 📚📖 How are you going to delineate the different types of genres on your new shelving unit? Just curious. Have a great week and "see" you next week! ♥♥
Thank you, Lori! We’ll be using themed bookends to separate the genres and once we know exactly how much space each is going to take up, we’ll also be labeling each section with little signs to make it as easy as possible for people to find what they’re looking for!
Absolutely love these videos - thank you for sharing your journey! It’s so amazing to see the progress of all your hard work. :) I’m curious - what are your personal favorite genres to read?
Thank you so much! We’re so happy to be sharing our progress with all of you! Carla’s favorite genres to read are dystopian fiction, fantasy, and historical nonfiction. Clio loves biographies and memoirs (especially about a person’s experience as an expatriate), self development, and health/wellness. And we have a shared love of classics, poetry, and linguistics 🩵 How about you?
@@bookshopbesties Thank you for replying! 🥰 Sounds like a lovely range of interests! I love all things fiction! Anything from slice of life to fantasy or sci-fi, and any age range as well. So I was particularly excited to see your new shelves! They’re looking fantastic.
I really enjoy going on this journey with you, it's turning out absolutely lovely ❤ Have you thought about how to label your sections? Seeing that statue in one of you last episodes popped the idea into my head to have a little themed statue/bust separating the books between sections. Especially with the long rows of books it could make it visually easier to separate them. Anyway, keep up the splendid work, I'm really looking forward to seeing you grow ❤️❤️
Great minds think alike, that’s exactly what we’re doing! Someone was kind enough to buy us all of the bookends that we had on our Amazon wishlist, so as soon as we receive them, we’ll be placing them as dividers within the shelves in such a way that goes with the theme of each section 💕
Yes! We play lovely classical music most of the time (occasionally more upbeat tunes like The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Elvis, etc.) on our gramophone all day!
Are you buying new lots of books, or thinning down the existing stock first? I'd start keeping track of good selling authors and genres, and then decide if I'd want to keep stocking the non movers anyway, or slowly whittle down the books that are just collecting dust for years. Both are valid in used bookstores, it's just a question you have to answer for yourselves. I'm wondering if you're turning a profit yet (with or without the cost of the cleanup and renovating), at least have the book sales cover the store?
Thank you! Yes, we are! We already have a countertop area at the front of the store for people to sit and read/work at, but we also plan on bringing in some cozy armchairs, potentially a sofa, etc. once we’ve opened up the space a bit more 🙂
In our research, what we’ve found is that if an old book is 15” or taller (aka folio sized), then it should lay flat to preserve its spine; otherwise, standing up with another book or weight on either side of it is best! Thank you for your concern, we promise we’re taking good care of our books!
I'm wondering why you're not displaying any of the books with the cover face frontward? I know it'll take up space from other books, but it's what will draw people's eyes toward a shelf. When it's just rows and rows of book spines they all start to float together, making it hard on the eyes to distinguish between them all. Suddenly the bwoser's gaze will just glaze over the spines without actually taking in what they're looking at. If you had some of the books displayed outward, it would stop that, which would also make it a more comfortable experience for the browser (and up your sales). Just a suggestion from a previous bookshop employee. 🙂
Ooh we actually are doing that now! We just wanted to get as many books up on these shelves as possible at first and from there we figured out how we could make it look nicer/decorate. But great tip, thank you!
This is a random suggestion, but I think it would help a lot of people discover your channel by just reuploading your tiktoks as shorts. They're recommended more than long form content and lots of channels blow up through them, especially as it doesn't require having to film extra content.
Many of our books were stacked on top of each other previously and it was a constant source of complaints from our in-person customers, actually! Having them vertical like this makes it easier for customers to remove them from the shelves as well as for us to keep things organized. Most bookstores and libraries orient their books vertically also because it is better for the books themselves, as there is less damage to the spines this way 🙂
It’s really impractical storing books stacked in a book shop. It’s hard to get books out without them falling, they’re heavy and it’s very difficult if you have a disability to shop in that way. I’ve never seen any bookshop store their books like that.
oic ok, understand. just that from my own experience browsing books sideway, it makes my neck very tired. anyway thanks for informing me the issue with stacking books on top of each other
I am living my dream vicariously through you guys 😭❤️ So cool to see new life breathed into an old bookshop.
You are so sweet, thank you for your support! 💖
When I was a teenager I worked in a library, returning books to their shelves. A little tip, leave a little room every few books, not just at the end! If you get new books from an author starting with an E for example, you won't have to slide EVERYTHING over.
You girls are doing an amazing job. I have been a customer of Spare Time Books for over 24 years. I live in Paso Robles. I brought my daughter's in and now my granddaughters.
The store is looking so clean these days!!
Really enjoying watching ya'lls progress! Something to consider when organizing shelves though... as a customer browsing, I would rather be able to stand in one spot and see all of a genre in front of me on multiple shelves (like on a single book case) vs having to walk down the whole aisle and bump into other people bc the genre runs down one shelf.
Totally understandable! Our customers so far have really liked having one shelf per subgenre, and we’re rarely packed to the point that people are bumping into each other while browsing, especially because we’re opening up the floor space by demolishing the old free-standing shelves, so there’s plenty of room for people to move around. This system makes it easier for us to alphabetize/organize and also visualize how many more books we’re able to put out at a time since we’re limited to one shelf per category (for the most part). But we really appreciate your input and support! 💖
It's so cool seeing your bookshop come together! I would love to visit if I ever get the chance (I am from Oregon so it is not TOTALLY out of the question). Also, I love living vicariously through these videos, as in my head I would love to own a bookshop, but I think in the end, owning a bookshop myself would take away from my enjoyment of reading. Your store seems like everything I look for in a used bookshop; I love mass-market paperbacks and well-used books :)
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment!! How sweet! We would love to meet you one day 🤗 And we know what you mean about losing your love for reading by working with books all day. I feel that way sometimes but it’s only because of our renovations and reorganizing being so overwhelming right now, but luckily this is temporary and once we’re more settled in, we’ll be able to fully enjoy reading again hehe
I love your bookstore and I have to say I think having this much of patience is a gift of God I can't imagine myself organizing all those books, good luck😊 from Tehran, Iran 🇮🇷🌹
Looking spiffy. Might I suggest for the opposite wall, non-fiction and whatnot, that you go 11.5-12 inches between each shelf, especially for the bottom couple of shelves? Some go larger, but since standard paper is 11 inches at the longest end this would give you the most options. Plus there’s space if you need more room for picture books.
This new wall looks so good! Really gives the shop a more modern vibe and the overview is so much better!
The shelves are looking great! Also love that outro jingle 😂
Hahaha thank you, eventually we’ll do a real one that’s more professional but for now it’s fun and DIY just like our shop 🤣
it’s looking so good! y’all are working so hard! both on the scenes and to bring us this content of the journey 🌞
Is not clean romance just a subgenre of romance? Since you have the rest of the shelf free, why not keep the different sub-genres of romance together on the same shelf? You can identify the difference the same way you plan on identifying the difference between the rest of the genres. From a shopping experience this tends to be less confusing.
Also, traditionally, Sci-Fi and Fantasy are shelved together.
You used to work at a floral shop and now own a bookstore with your best friend… yeah y’all just might actually be the main characters 😅
Aww I love this comment, you are so sweet! I’ve worked some crappy jobs too though, rest assured 🤣 sending you love!!
I'm loving these videos! Hopefully you don't mind if I borrow an idea or two from your bookshop for my own home library... love the idea of a feature wall painted a different colour to really make the books "pop"! Thanks for the inspiration ladies :)
Adelle, that’s so lovely, of course we don’t mind! So honored to have inspired you, thank you for watching and cheering us on! 💕
I'm working in Rio de Janeiro at 2 AM, and I love your videos 🥰 It's amazing what you're doing with the store, it's becoming a wonderful place!!!
Thank you so much for your support all the way from Brazil 💚 we appreciate you so much and are so happy to keep you company while you work 😄
Omg floral shop? Indie bookshop? It feels like a movie, I know you have heard this a lot but you are living my dream!
And love the green you used. I painted my windows on the same tone 🤍
Aww that’s so lovely! Thank you for your support, friend 💖
You guys are living my dream! I wish I could come and visit. I can't wait to see the next part of your journey❤
Just stumble across your RUclips channel. Could you introduce yourself and tell us about how you came to buy a bookshop?
And while you are working on making international shiping available, would you consider selling book recommendations sort of a mystery pack where I tell you I love classical crime like Agatha Christi and historical fiction like The book theft by Markus Zusak and The hundred-year-old man who climed out of the window and disappeared by Jonas Johnson. Then you pick out a couple or more suggestions for me and then I will have to find them myself i.e in a library or as an audio book (my primary choice).
I used to work in a library shelving books. I loved sorting all of them Can't wait to see what you guys do to the place!❤
Can’t wait to see the labelling for each section and those funky recommendation cards books of the week
I love seeing it come togheter goodluck along the way!!
Wow the upgrade they’re giving this shop but still maintaining the vintage feel I love it and an amazing color choice for the paint!!
Thank you so much, your comment made our day!
listening to queen during the tape removal is iconic
btw should get a cool vintage step stool for customers to reach the top shelves
We love that idea! Thank you!
Ahhhhhhhh! New video! Love your work 😊📚📚📚📚
Well that wall is looking divine! I think people will be coming in to take selfies in front of it.
Will you be painting the yellow ducting on the roof? I think black ceiling with black ducting would be very discrete and classy 🖤
Thank you so much! We’re very happy with our progress so far 🙂 We are planning on painting the ceiling and ductwork. Originally we wanted to do a constellation ceiling but our property manager does not want us to paint it dark, so we’re thinking now light blues and golds up there would be nice, perhaps copper for the ducts! We shall see! 🤩
@@bookshopbesties Ooooooo constellation would have been the most amazing thing ever. ✨️✨️ Such a shame. Copper is a great idea
Love your timelapses ❤
Omg you guys should get small speakers and place them throughout the shop and play soft music to make nice and inviting ambiance
Oh love that! We have a very beautiful mini gramophone that was gifted to us that we have out playing pretty music and it’s a great conversation starter, too! We’ll have to show it off in the next video!
LOVE these videos! Hoping for more soon!
It’s looking great! Can’t wait to visit the shop again since you two have purchased it
Awesome stuff! :)
It's getting so beautiful ❤❤ sending love from Brazil!!
Loving this, love the outro! Do an intro like that too, it would be so cute
I'm here for the bookstore journey!
LOVED the outro. The shop is looking amazing. Loved the shelves.
Nice work! If you painted the shelves the same color as the wall, the books would pop-out more, as the shelf would blend with the wall, giving all the focus on the colored books. :)
Organising books best job ever!
Great work by all of you and the shop is looking so much better. Have you thought about painting all the shelves black as it would look so good next to the green wall and the black would also hide the black brackets a too. It's so good to see it all coming together in such a great way for you all.
I love starting my day with a new video from you! Your shop is really coming together and looking fantastic - can't wait to see more of the transformation. 📚📖
How are you going to delineate the different types of genres on your new shelving unit? Just curious.
Have a great week and "see" you next week! ♥♥
Thank you, Lori! We’ll be using themed bookends to separate the genres and once we know exactly how much space each is going to take up, we’ll also be labeling each section with little signs to make it as easy as possible for people to find what they’re looking for!
❤
Looking great! Do you plan on making bookshelf separators with the name of each section?
I have the same question! 😉
Hello and thank you! Yes, we’ll be separating each genre using themed bookends and then labelling each section as well 🙂
Absolutely love these videos - thank you for sharing your journey! It’s so amazing to see the progress of all your hard work. :)
I’m curious - what are your personal favorite genres to read?
Thank you so much! We’re so happy to be sharing our progress with all of you!
Carla’s favorite genres to read are dystopian fiction, fantasy, and historical nonfiction. Clio loves biographies and memoirs (especially about a person’s experience as an expatriate), self development, and health/wellness. And we have a shared love of classics, poetry, and linguistics 🩵 How about you?
@@bookshopbesties Thank you for replying! 🥰 Sounds like a lovely range of interests!
I love all things fiction! Anything from slice of life to fantasy or sci-fi, and any age range as well. So I was particularly excited to see your new shelves! They’re looking fantastic.
I really enjoy going on this journey with you, it's turning out absolutely lovely ❤ Have you thought about how to label your sections? Seeing that statue in one of you last episodes popped the idea into my head to have a little themed statue/bust separating the books between sections. Especially with the long rows of books it could make it visually easier to separate them.
Anyway, keep up the splendid work, I'm really looking forward to seeing you grow ❤️❤️
Great minds think alike, that’s exactly what we’re doing! Someone was kind enough to buy us all of the bookends that we had on our Amazon wishlist, so as soon as we receive them, we’ll be placing them as dividers within the shelves in such a way that goes with the theme of each section 💕
@@bookshopbesties Love that, I bet it's gonna look amazing 😍
Are you guys going to have music playing during open hours? A great music compilation in a bookstor I've always loved.
Yes! We play lovely classical music most of the time (occasionally more upbeat tunes like The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Elvis, etc.) on our gramophone all day!
💗💗💗💗💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Love watching your videos. But what does it say on those socks? Lol ❤
Thank you! They say, “And I never got caught neither!” 🤣
Will you be having spacers/labels for the different genres?? It’s looking amazing!! Xx
Yes! We’ll be using cute, themed bookends to separate the genres and we’ll also label each section once we’re all done organizing!
🐝 🐝 🐝
Are you buying new lots of books, or thinning down the existing stock first? I'd start keeping track of good selling authors and genres, and then decide if I'd want to keep stocking the non movers anyway, or slowly whittle down the books that are just collecting dust for years. Both are valid in used bookstores, it's just a question you have to answer for yourselves.
I'm wondering if you're turning a profit yet (with or without the cost of the cleanup and renovating), at least have the book sales cover the store?
Looks amazing! Question: Are you planning on introducing reading areas, a sort of communal space? I know some bookstores have that concept!
Thank you! Yes, we are! We already have a countertop area at the front of the store for people to sit and read/work at, but we also plan on bringing in some cozy armchairs, potentially a sofa, etc. once we’ve opened up the space a bit more 🙂
Why did you decide to sort genres in horizontal sections instead of vertical? I'm curious
I heard that very old books should be shelved horizontally in order to protect their spines.
In our research, what we’ve found is that if an old book is 15” or taller (aka folio sized), then it should lay flat to preserve its spine; otherwise, standing up with another book or weight on either side of it is best! Thank you for your concern, we promise we’re taking good care of our books!
@@bookshopbestiesThanks ! :)
I'm wondering why you're not displaying any of the books with the cover face frontward? I know it'll take up space from other books, but it's what will draw people's eyes toward a shelf. When it's just rows and rows of book spines they all start to float together, making it hard on the eyes to distinguish between them all. Suddenly the bwoser's gaze will just glaze over the spines without actually taking in what they're looking at. If you had some of the books displayed outward, it would stop that, which would also make it a more comfortable experience for the browser (and up your sales). Just a suggestion from a previous bookshop employee. 🙂
Ooh we actually are doing that now! We just wanted to get as many books up on these shelves as possible at first and from there we figured out how we could make it look nicer/decorate. But great tip, thank you!
This is a random suggestion, but I think it would help a lot of people discover your channel by just reuploading your tiktoks as shorts. They're recommended more than long form content and lots of channels blow up through them, especially as it doesn't require having to film extra content.
I am launching same business book project with my friends would you collaborate ?
why not stacking books on top of each other so that customers would not have cricked on their neck from reading titles sideway
Many of our books were stacked on top of each other previously and it was a constant source of complaints from our in-person customers, actually! Having them vertical like this makes it easier for customers to remove them from the shelves as well as for us to keep things organized. Most bookstores and libraries orient their books vertically also because it is better for the books themselves, as there is less damage to the spines this way 🙂
It’s really impractical storing books stacked in a book shop. It’s hard to get books out without them falling, they’re heavy and it’s very difficult if you have a disability to shop in that way. I’ve never seen any bookshop store their books like that.
oic ok, understand. just that from my own experience browsing books sideway, it makes my neck very tired. anyway thanks for informing me the issue with stacking books on top of each other