Congratulations to Book Bin, Onley, Va., on the Delmarva Peninsula, which celebrated its 40th year in business on Saturday, the Eastern Shore Post reported. Owner Philip Wilson purchased the business in 2016 from Susan Tyler and Mary Smolinski, who had been the second set of owners, after founders E.A. McMath and Joanna Snyder.
Wilson has fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning a bookstore after a 30-year career in college teaching and administration, the Eastern Shore Post wrote, adding: "Among longstanding traditions in the store is the wooden gingerbread house, which has been in the store from the beginning and where generations of children have come to play while their elders browse."
"Apart from the bookshelves, that's the single longest-standing structure in here," said Wilson, who recently added artwork to the inventory. "They are all local folks."
He added that the shop's employees make Book Bin special: "It is the staff--they are the gold of this institution. It is their collective backgrounds and wisdom and insights that I lean on very heavily.... To build what this store is, the vision that people see--it's the ideas of everyone who works here."