LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Residents of Chelsea, Michigan, helped a local bookstore move more than 9,000 books down the block to the shop’s new location over the weekend.
A “book brigade” of around 300 people formed two lines down the sidewalk between Serendipity Books’ former location and the new storefront around the corner on Main Street.
They passed the books one by one and in alphabetical order to the correct shelves in the new building.
“It was a practical way to move the books, but it also was a way for everybody to have a part,” Michelle Tuplin, the store’s owner, said. “As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one.’”
Tuplin initially announced the move in January.
“It became so buzzy in town. So many people wanted to help,” she said Tuesday.
Tuplin said the move took just under two hours, much less time than it would have taken to hire a moving company. She hopes to have the new location open within the next two weeks.
The bookstore has been open since 1997. Tuplin has owned it since 2017 and has three part-time employees.
“It’s a small town, and people just really look out for each other,” said Kaci Friss, 32, who grew up in Chelsea and has worked at the bookstore a little over a year. “Anywhere you go, you are going to run into someone you know or who knows you and is going to ask you about your day.”
Friss said Sunday’s book brigade reminded her of “how special this community is.”
Chelsea, about 60 miles west of Detroit, is home to about 5,300 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.