We declared Harriett’s to be a place for peace, love and respect for everyone. And that’s what it’s been. — Jeannine A. Cook, author of Shut Up and Read: A Memoir From Harriett’s Bookshop
I read books. I buy books. I acknowledge the gift that books are and am forever grateful for the day that I learned to read, to write and to comprehend well.
(Good morning, Good Tea People all around the world! Thank you for taking time to stop by. Welcome to our newest readers and subscribers. If you are new here, then please know it’s time to prepare your tea and/or tisane and pause for a moment. You will be glad that you did. I’ll check in from time to time.)
It was game over the day my mother took me as a little girl to receive my very own library card from the Parkway Central Free Library of Philadelphia. I remember feeling so grown up: similar to the day I received my own passbook savings account with my name typed on it. This was an important event, even though people tend to take having a library card for granted.
(Shout out to all the ancestors who fought, bled and died to ensure their descendants had the ability to learn, to read, to write and to be educated. A mind is still a terrible thing to waste.)
In my eyes, librarians were the coolest people on the planet because they worked around BOOKS, they knew where to find everything, they were willing to help you find what you needed, and they had no problems telling people to be quiet.
For this introverted soul, quiet places and cool people are nurturing. Every place that I have ever lived, I find places where I can read and be in peace.
Harriett’s Bookshop (258 E Girard Ave, Philadelphia)
Jeannine A. Cook, author of “Shut Up and Read: A Memoir of Harriett’s Bookshop”, tells the origin story of Harriett’s Bookshop as only the founder and shopkeeper can.
As a bibliophile and a customer, my relationship to Harriett’s is simple: I support those places where I am celebrated and not merely tolerated.
Harriett’s is a place for those who talk their walk because they know what they are talking about. There are plenty of books to help us get where we are trying to go. Ignorance is a choice and not an option, especially with bookshops lighting the way.
(Good Tea People, when you buy this book please read about Harriett’s Overground Underground Railroad. It’s an inspiring vision for global literacy and one worth supporting. Bonus: there are tea mentions sprinkled throughout!)
Visiting Harriett’s Bookshop and its sister stores is stepping into a creatively curated space designed for pausing, thinking, dreaming and, most importantly, doing. It makes sense because these spaces welcome community collaborations wherever like-minded humans find themselves. Every visit is an experience all its own.
In fact, I saw the video clip of my line dancing community members during a Harriett’s event. Let’s
Read the Room
Here are some photos from Ida’s Bookshop, named for the journalist and activist Ida Barnes Wells-Burnett. Once located in a Collingswood, NJ storefront, Ida’s is now inside the Camden FireWorks in Camden, NJ and hosts events.
(Yes, Good Tea People, there’s more backstory about Ida’s Bookshop in “Shut Up and Read”. Go ahead, make another pot of tea, if necessary. You know that good oolong that can be steeped multiple infusions. We don’t waste tea leaves over here.)
Travel with Books
As of this writing, I have yet to visit Josephine’s Bookshop in Paris. I am determined to remedy whenever the opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, there are locations to explore, literary events to attend, and books to read.
Thank you to the authors whose books have traveled with me via plane, train and automobile. Thank you for crafting words that educate and entertain at the same time. Thank you for giving voice and a microphone to characters who may have stayed hidden if not for your work.
“Wicked Flesh: Black Women, Intimacy, and Freedom in the Atlantic World” by Jessica Marie Johnson
(What’s that, Good Tea People? That isn’t a cup of tea, you say? Let’s stay focused on what is here rather than what is not, shall we? This post is almost done.)
Cups Up Conclusions
I am still reading books. I am still buying books. I am so grateful for Harriett’s Bookshop and other local booksellers who continue to make it their business to encourage literacy and to strengthen their communities. May each space continue to be a “place of peace, love and respect for all people”.
Cups up! #DrinkTea #ReadBooks #WellReadJawn
