Spark Books, a 500-square-foot shop that features books for children "who are just learning their alphabet and extends up to those grabbing young adult titles," opened in October at 14 Brilliant Ave. in Aspinwall, Pa., the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Originally from Maine, owner Adriene Rister attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health and sees her mission in both fields as bettering the community: "In a way, I like to think of this as part of public health. Research has shown that kids are dealing with depression and anxiety more and more. A bookstore should be a community hub, a place to gather around literacy and education, and a place to teach our kids about different worlds, about empathy, about different cultures. It's so important to get books into kids' hands, to open up worlds for them."
The bookstore's space is flexible, with movable center tables for events and activities. "I wanted this to be a multipurpose space," Rister said, adding that in launching a new bookstore she "took a big leap of faith. It was the marriage of the public health part of me with the book lover--what would that look like to provide another place for caregivers and kids to come and hang out. To have a safe place for all people to read and play. Literacy is so important, as is what we can teach our kids through books and learning to discuss new ideas."