What began as a storage space for a continuously expanding Facebook marketplace ad for books turned bookstore, Shelf Life celebrated its first anniversary last month. As the store carries on providing the mesmerizing smell and feel of the printed book, owner Danielle Sawat will hold the store’s first local lit fest on August 6 at the downtown pavilion.
“In the time Shelf Life has been open, I’ve learned just how much local talent there is, and I know that I’ve barely tapped into that community yet because it is so vast,” explains Sawat. “There are a lot of obstacles when it comes to selling [local authors’] books. No matter how an author starts out though, it can be wildly expensive, and the books are usually underserved, which can often become so emotionally or mentally exhausting that a writer may never finish. When I think about all the books that aren’t available to us because of this, it’s really heavy.”
When Sawat opened the store in 2021, she had originally only planned to rent the space to store books and meet customers for online sales of books. “I purchased an estate library from Richfield… [The] family was selling off his book and they ran an ad on Facebook marketplace and I purchased it at the end of November and took several trips back and forth to bring about 1,200-1,300 books to my house. It was a little anxious because it was so many books,” she recalled in an interview on Fallscast episode 51. “My intention was to keep going with the list, where I was typing them out in these 9-page-long Excel spreadsheets and just letting that email list grow and meeting people [at the shop].” Since then the store has expanded its products to the extent of the space, including hand-crafted bookmarks, stickers, and a special section of new books by local Ohio authors.
“The best thing I’ve discovered is how engaging local authors are. They offer a reciprocating commitment to their work and the store and it’s really reaffirming to keep moving forward with doing more as things unfold. Being included in their journey has awakened a deeper desire to learn as much as I can about publishing and be more involved in supporting authors at whatever capacity I can… When people read these books, they are connected with a creativity that is very close to them, in our community- and that can be a catalyst of inspiration for new waves of writers, or rekindling the desire to write again for others.”
When a space opened up at the pavilion, Sawat took the opportunity to further promote these authors by holding the Local Lit Fest, not having the capacity to hold a festival in the store’s limited space. The festival will feature 12 authors including: Jim Woods (Bite the Bullet), Sharon Moreland Myers (The First 100 series), and Megan Higgins (Super Special Magic Shoes), along with children’s book readings, writing, publishing, and public speaking coaching, literary art, multiple take-and-makes, and typewriter haiku.
There will also be raffle prizes from downtown Cuyahoga Falls businesses including: the Workz, Hope Soap, and Looking Glass Gifts and Gallery. Attendees will be able to enter with the purchase of raffle tickets or local author books. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Bright Star Books, a 501c3 that promotes a culture of reading by increasing access to books for children in the Greater Akron region by working with early childhood development and literacy organizations to fill literacy gaps to ensure children have the necessary resources to grow up in an environment where they can love to read.
“Literacy and creativity are two things in life that we don’t think of often, and the latter may not be something we give ourselves enough time for. I want people to come to the Local Lit Fest with curiosity and leave knowing that stories are all around us, they aren’t always delivered from great distances. I want to show visitors what I’ve come to know, and I want them to be inspired to support, and maybe even inspired to begin, or begin again, their own writing or reading journey,” explains Sawat.
Shelf Life’s Local List Fest will take place Saturday August 6, 12pm-4pm at the downtown pavilion. For more information, visit https://www.shelflifebookstore.com/lit-fest.
