Congratulations to RJ Julia Booksellers, which is celebrating its 30th birthday Thursday with a virtual party, sharing "favorite books of the past 30 years. We'll reminisce about the bookstore, then and now, and you'll get a chance to 'see' and hear from your favorite booksellers. We might even get messages from a few special guests!"
In this month's "Dear Reader" letter, RJ Julia founder Roxanne Coady wrote: "Well, I don't think anyone could have imagined our 30th birthday occurring in this environment, nor did it occur to me that after one 20-year happy career, my lark or dream would result in a second 30-year career! But here we are. In a peculiar way, this moment in time perfectly reveals what locally owned independent bookstores embody.
"As Kevin and I were about to open the doors in April 1990, giving birth to RJ Julia Booksellers and, just a few months later, our son Edward, I doubt we understood the full breadth of the journey we were about to begin. As we raise a child, we are very familiar with the notion of nature versus nurture.... We might not think about an entity like RJ Julia being 'birthed' and it too being subject to the debate of nature versus nurture. But as I sit at this juncture six weeks into a landscape shockingly altered by the pandemic, it is clear that the theory applies.
"Our nature forges and fuels how we function. Independent bookstores are born with hearts, with passion, and with an understanding that they are a necessary part of a history. That history began with the power of the very first words being written down. No, in fact, it goes further back--we are linked to the ancient communal tradition of storytelling.
"By creating a community space for storytelling, we have the ability to transform, entertain, distract, and most critically, to inspire dreams through stories. It is what brings us joy and purpose. It is our nature that defines us, drives us, and informs our actions. This is our responsibility and commitment.
"Of course, nature alone is not enough. The capacity to leverage our nature is where the nurturing comes in; we sure as hell have been nurtured!... Hard times expose weaknesses, fragile ties, and inequities, but they also reveal strength, connection, and humanity. That is why this crazy scary time is the perfect time to celebrate. This environment reveals the magical marriage of our nature and an abundance of nurture, which has created the 30-year-old RJ Julia Booksellers, a place, a space, which represents our best selves. Our nature was nurtured!... We will see you in the store and we will celebrate."