Get an author you can’t refuse
Papa’s Bookshelf draws readers with full-service approach
Story and photos by Eliot Sekuler
For the TODAY
Bookstores, like other shops that cater to individual tastes, have their own personalities. Papa’s Bookshelf, Lincoln City’s newest bookseller, is no exception. The shelves, racks and tables that fill the brightly lit, spacious interior, labeled with every conceivable book category, offer a broad and friendly welcome to readers of every stripe, aiming to please by offering something for everyone.
“We want to be a full-service community book store,” said Papa’s Bookshelf owner Billy Reese, whose location within Lincoln City Outlets was previously occupied by Book Warehouse, part of a chain of discount overstock booksellers. Reese, who has worked in the book retail field for 20 years, was a Book Warehouse employee and managed the store during his last years there, acquiring solid experience and developing a clearly defined direction for his own retail venture.
Upon acquiring the 3,000-square foot space and opening last March, Reese radically changed its course, retaining some of the new discount book inventory but broadening the store’s appeal with a mix of categories. Discount books have appeal, but “they’re very limiting as to titles,” he said. “There are authors and titles that would never be available and I often had to tell customers, ‘No, I don’t have that, but I have other titles that are somewhat like it.’ I hated doing that. I want to tell my customers that I have the book they want or if I don’t, I can get it.”
The store still features “overstock” discount books, but customers will also find the latest books on the best-sellers lists, quality used books, rare titles and “a ton of comics,” thanks to Reese.
“I’ve always been a reader,” he said, listing science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Frank Herbert as inspirational writers. “I picked up Frank Herbert’s `Dune’ when I was about eight. I didn’t quite finish it then but by the time I was 10, I’d gotten through the first book and I’ve re-read that one more than any other single title.”
The inventory in Papa’s Bookshelf reflects Reese’s personal passion for the sci-fi genre as well as his knowledge of the fantasy category.
“Fantasy is even more popular than sci-fi these days and, between the two, they’re a big core part of what our store offers,” he said. “I enjoy both of those categories, and my personal passion for them helps me to be more effective in selling them. Currently, the market is skewed toward fantasy and romantic fantasy.”
Books by such authors as Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros have been big sellers at Papa’s Bookshelf. Yarros’ most recent volume, “Fourth Wing” flew off the store’s shelves.
Despite the growth of ebooks and the Amazon colossus, independent bookstores are thriving, according to Reese, who cites various statistics regarding the public’s reading habits and book sales in many categories as good signs for the bookselling business. “When people are spending their days working on their computers and tablets and phones, do they really want to go home and hold another machine?” he said. “There’s a natural swing of the pendulum back to paper books.”
Reese’s opinions are supported by recent industry sales figures. According to a Global Book Sales Statistics report, print books are generating more than $64.35 billion in revenue as of 2023, a 2.24 percent increase over 2022. And some categories are truly booming.
“For example,” Reese said, “the contemporary romance category grew 52 percent in 2022.”
The store’s location has made it a natural destination for shoppers visiting from out of the area, and Reese estimated that they make up nearly 85 percent of his customers. “I’d really like to try to grow our local reader base,” he said. He’s taken several measures to help make that happen. One section of the store is dedicated to roughly a dozen regional and local authors including Rebecca Harrison, Ron Lovell and Dan Harvey, and Reese hopes to expand that section.
“We want to do this for the long run,” Reese said, “and we want to serve this community.”
He has been a donor to the “Stuff-A-Bus” school supplies program and has made book donations to the Friends of the Driftwood Library. He also provides a free Bible to anybody who requests one. “We’ve given away about 30 of them so far,” he said.
For Reese, connecting with the community is a priority.
“I think what people look for in an independent bookstore nowadays, in addition to finding great books, is a place to connect with other people, and that’s what we are looking to bring to the community,” he said. “Apothecaries, groceries, hardware and bookstores were the original retail stores. Hopefully, we’ll all be here forever.”
Papa’s Bookshelf is located in the Lincoln City Outlets, 1500 SE East Devils Lake Road, and is open from 10 am to 7 pm Friday and Saturday and 10 am to 6 pm Sunday through Thursday. For more information, call 541-557-2092.