This April, The Book Rescuers will celebrate the fourth anniversary of their first mobile event.
“We got started that January. We had a few driveway events,” George Brooks, who owns the bookstore together with Sarah Brooks, told What Now. “Then I took a few months off to build bookshelves on wheels so we could start taking ten thousand books to a different location every weekend.”
After a lot of hard work, the Book Rescuers mobile period gave way to a permanent, brick-and-mortar home at 8325 Ulmerton Road in Largo. Brooks says the Grand Opening is planned around the time of that fourth anniversary in April, but The Book Rescuers has already soft-opened. You can go there today.
And a lot of people are going—TBR is quickly becoming a community institution, a much-needed space where groups like a local Knitting Guild are starting to meet. There are plans for D&D events and much more. As Brooks put it, “The community can pretty much just tell us what they want.”
As local individuals and organizations donate furniture and the space becomes more of a hangout and gathering place, Brooks says The Book Rescuers is planning to start serving beer and wine from Overflow Brewing, along with coffee and tea (eventually). Additionally, the location has an electrical hookup that will allow food trucks to operate without a generator. The beer and wine are expected to start flowing in late January or early February, Brooks said. The food trucks are expected to start showing up much sooner—as soon as possible.
“Just yesterday, someone was there for an hour and then went to get lunch—and then they came back,” Brooks said. “And I thought noooo, I wish we had a food truck!”
Fashioning itself as a community institution, TBR dedicates the front of the store to local authors and crafters. If you would like to see you work at The Book Rescuers, you can reach out at [email protected].
You can keep up with Book Rescuers news by following @thebookrescuers on Instagram.
