The arrival of the holiday season here in Elizabethtown has also heralded the arrival of a brand new shop downtown. The storefront on North Market Street, across from Folklore, has remained a quiet and largely untraveled corner of the main drag. That is, until Bookshelf Shenanigans opened its doors to the public on Oct.October 19. A new bookstore opening in Elizabethtown just makes sense, something both students and local residents will undoubtedly rejoice to have amidst the town’s numerous boutiques and restaurants.
Upon entering, visitors are greeted with a store packed to the brim with a cozy atmosphere and good reads. The bookstore offers a tasteful and learned selection of new books in nearly any genre, ranging anywhere from classics and romance to manga and local publishings. The store itself is big enough to spend a morning poring over the shelves yet small enough to create an atmosphere perfect for a visit with friends.
If you look closely, you may see a leprechaun peeking between the shelves or sitting behind the register. “Ian is our leprechaun,” owner Jessica McKinley said. “We tell the kids that he comes out and stocks the books at night.” McKinley, who, alongside her husband, has transformed a corner of North Market Street into a haven for readers. While building the brand for the business, they realized their Irish descent would be a great feature to express.
“I have always loved the idea of having a little bookstore,” McKinley said. Fortunately, the inside is warm and inviting, featuring mini Christmas trees and figurines set up around the shelves.
“I have a step-daughter who is a senior in high school this year, and we were doing a lot of college tours,” she continued. “And all of these college towns had a cute bookstore. And I’m like, why not Elizabethtown?”
Fresh on the heels of midterms week and the closing of a fall semester, the store’s opening coincides perfectly with the holidays and the times where students may want to pick something up to keep them engaged over the winter breaks. However, the store is also a hotspot for local residents and bookworms alike.
McKinley and her husband had been investing in Elizabethtown and bought the property over the summer. Something about it felt right. “Everybody comes in. I love it. It’s like a neutral ground for everybody, especially in this tumultuous time that we’re living in right now. I love that,” she said.
Bookshelf Shenanigans also offers audiobooks online through Libro.FM and Bookshop.org, both of which provide quality audiobooks and directly give back to indie bookstores. For the latter, any money not made through an indie bookstore is pooled together and split between the cooperating bookstores. These are purchases for a good cause. Readers can explore the book selections both sites have to offer on the Bookshelf Shenanigans website https://bookshelfian.com/.
When asked about any deals for Etown College students, McKinley says she has nothing set in stone yet but grew enthusiastic. “I’d love to do some kind of promotional work with the College itself, whether it be books that students need or just extracurricular reads. I am working on it to see what’s good for everyone.”
Students, be on the lookout for potential deals! For the casual reader, the romance, fantasy and science fiction sections are outfitted with the newest titles. For more academic readers, the classics section has the perfect balance between philosophy, American literature and English literature. There is even a children’s section.
“I am so glad that we opened here because the community support has been way beyond my expectations,” McKinley said. “The people that have stopped by and the people that I’ve met and talked to are just amazing.” If the archway of books doesn’t speak for itself, Bookshelf Shenanigans is the place to check out.
