“EVEN NOW, I SOMETIMES DREAM THAT I'M WORKING AT BORDERS AGAIN.
When I was in high school I volunteered at the library at Paddock Elementary. My mom used to be a librarian there.
Nobody liked doing the magazine rack but I loved it. I had organizational systems and I would rotate things and keep it neat and alphabetized. That’s when I realized that I loved doing that kind of thing.
My love of books definitely came from my mom and my dad. They used to read to my sister and I when we were little. One of our favorites was The Monster at the End of This Book. We asked for it so often I am sure they got tired of reading it to us.
That book still makes me happy.
I really enjoy reading stories that are whimsical and possess a childlike sense of magic, taking you back to a time when it was easier to use your imagination.
One of my all-time favorite books is Peter Pan. There’s also a book called Boy's Life by Robert McCammon. It’s not as well-known as Peter Pan but it is beautifully written and is one of my absolute favorite books.
Realizing I wanted to own my own bookstore was a gradual thing. At first I wanted to be a writer and an illustrator, which didn’t end up happening.
I tried to submit some things in high school to publishers and I got rejection letters and got frustrated. That put an end to my writing aspirations. I wish I wouldn't have let that get to me. But also that is, in part, what led me here.
When I graduated from high school, I got a job at Borders. I ended up staying there for 12 years, until they closed in 2011. I don’t think anyone I worked with thought Borders would really go out of business. We hoped it wouldn’t anyway.
When Borders closed, my husband Jeff and I sort of had it in our brains that someday we might open our own bookstore. During Borders liquidation sale we purchased bookcases, a book cart, scanners, and some other items.
That was 2011, but it wasn’t until 2018 that we opened our bookstore, Adventure, Ink.
The owner of Watchtower Comics, which had opened about a year earlier in the Collins Center, approached my husband about buying his store. Jeff and I talked over all of the details and decided we should do it.
It's the biggest impulse buy we've ever made.
During Covid we had to close for a while. At the same time, friends of ours bought the building at 108 E. Main, where we are located now. Last August we reopened in this location. It was almost exactly ten years to the date of when Borders closed.
We were able to use all of the bookshelves and the other things we bought from Borders in our new location.
Both my husband and I have other jobs. I work full–time at Siena Heights and own a photography business. The bookstore, right now, doesn’t provide a steady revenue stream. Eventually, we hope it could be full-time. For now, we do this because we have a passion for these things, because we love it, and we love talking to people.
I do this because it is my dream.
Just a couple weeks ago I had another bookstore dream. This time, it wasn't about Borders. It was about my bookstore.
That felt like progress.”
--Laura Harvey