Third Space: Indy bookstore cultivates community connections

September 18, 2024

By La Crosse Community Foundation

Downtown bookstore serves as a third space

Pearl Street Books owner Beth Hartung has created a uniquely welcoming space in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The independent bookstore not only curates new and used books; it cultivates community connections and a joy for reading. Since acquiring Pearl Street Books in 2021, Hartung has turned it into a hub for learning and conversation, hosting meaningful events and gatherings, providing a sanctuary for readers of all ages, and turning it into one of La Crosse’s favorite third spaces.

How do you see Pearl Street Books’ role within the local community?

A community bookstore can serve as the heart of a community by creating a space for local and visiting people to spend time exploring the entire world within the shelf space of the store. We also host monthly community events to offer community members a space to meet others, discuss ideas and books, and continue learning. Some examples of our gatherings include Psychology Circle, Philosophy Circle, Cover to Cover Book Club, Poetry Circle, author events, and Music Between the Bookshelves. These events typically draw between 10 and 30 people.

We also take great pride in the curation of books at our store to meet the interests of our local friends of the store as well as people visiting our area. We aren’t simply curating New York Times bestsellers. We are also selecting books from independent publishers that readers may not know about otherwise. We strive to amplify voices and books that not only represent us as a community but also the type of community we hope to be.

What inspired you to cultivate Pearl Street Books as a third space?

Libraries and bookstores have always been a safe and exciting space for me. As a child, I realized that I could travel the world and learn all kinds of things from the books I read. Creating this space now, for others to enjoy, gives me great joy. More importantly, I firmly believe that this is important work to do. In these times, it is so easy for us to stay within the confines of our homes and workplaces and never NEED to interact with anyone new or adjacent to our circle of people. Stepping into a bookstore/library can be magical. You never know what you will find there or who might be browsing beside you. It is truly one of the easiest and least expensive ways to travel and learn and keep that childhood curiosity and life-long learning alive and strong. We recently purchased a piano from Leithold Music with the hopes of offering yet another reason for people to stop by to play or listen to music.

What initiatives have you implemented to promote literacy and make books more accessible to diverse audiences?

We have done some major weeding at our store over the last three years. In doing so, we have given away thousands of free books to our community members. The purging of books allowed us to make space for voices that were not yet well-represented on our shelves. As you browse through the aisles, you will find more books written by people who have traditionally not had much shelf space. This includes the voices of women, Black, Brown, Indigenous peoples, people who identify as LGBTQ+, people with differing abilities, working class, etc.). Additionally, because we are a predominantly used bookstore, our gently-used books are affordable for people with budgets of all sizes.

Reprinted with permission from the La Crosse Tribune.