Best of Mountain View: Books Inc. maintains strong bond with its community of ‘bookworms’

For decades, the incentive for patrons to visit Books Inc. has gone well beyond the pleasures of having a new book in their hands.

Before the COVID-19 shutdown, Books Inc. offered a stacked lineup of events from young adult author talks to weekly book clubs for children. It was a place where people could walk in and spark up a conversation.

All of those traditions are part of the reason the store has held such a strong connection with the community, said manager Cheenie Durham.

“That’s what we do,” Durham said.

But for a few months, the pandemic threatened to upend those beloved traditions. The bookseller, which has Midpeninsula locations at 317 Castro St. in Mountain View and Town & Country Village in Palo Alto, temporarily shuttered its stores and every in-person event was canceled.

“We had to cancel stuff that was happening the very next day,” Durham said. “A lot of emails went out among a bunch of people, so that was a huge thing just to stop all of that.”

During the two-and-half months Books Inc. was closed, Durham described the period as “odd and hard” given that part of her job is to closely interact with her community of bookworms every time someone comes into the store.

Thanks to the chain’s existing online infrastructure, the bookseller was able to stay afloat during the lockdown through its online sales, which Durham said have “skyrocketed.”

“We were seeing numbers previously unseen,” she said.

Books Inc. offered free shipping for online orders as an incentive to shop at their online store.

It also kept its phone lines and direct message inboxes on social media wide open to stay in touch with its customers. Cheenie said it didn’t take long before they pivoted to virtual author events.

The online gatherings are not quite at the usual level of programming the bookstore once offered, but it does help provide one more way to keep the book community connected, she said.

“Everyone needs to connect,” Durham said. “A lot of people have been alone, alone, alone, and they need the connection of some new books and being around other booklovers.”

Now, with looser state and county health restrictions, Books Inc. has reopened for in-store shopping.

“It’s been wonderful,” Durham said. “People are just thrilled we’re here and just to be able to come into the bookstore and actually look at books rather than just being online.”

This story appeared as part of the Voice’s Best of Mountain View online edition. With this year’s Best Of, we salute the efforts of local businesses as they redefine their operations during the coronavirus pandemic. We are sharing the stories of how some businesses have responded to the coronavirus and taking a look at how our 2019 Best Of winners are doing a year later.

Read more Best of Mountain View 2020 stories