Co-owners Brad Jones and Cinda Meister recently moved BookSmart to Vineyard Town Center by Nob Hill
Published in the February 13 – 26 2019 issue of Morgan Hill Life
For many BookSmart fans, the New Year was a time for both a sad “goodbye” and a happy “hi.”
Early January, Morgan Hill’s independent bookstore closed its site where it has been for two and a half years in a strip mall off East Dunne and re-opened in the Vineyard Town Center near Nob Hill Foods.
A team of volunteers helped box books, games, greeting cards, toys and other merchandise on “packing day” Jan. 10. Among them was Katie Khera, a longtime costumer of the store, who was busy placing nonfiction books in a box as she described why she was giving her time to co-owners Brad Jones and Cinda Meister as they make the move across town.
“Brad and Cinda have given so much back to the community,” she said. “We need to support them, because they’ve been fabulous to the community.”
Her daughter, Meghana, grew up in the store and is an avid reader, she said.
“I personally can’t imagine living in a town without an independent bookstore,” Katie said. “It’s one of my criteria for where I live, so I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we still have one.”
Terry Eves Knudsen, a retired librarian from Sobrato High School, also spent time boxing books that morning. Holding a bound book in your hands and turning the pages is a different experience than reading from a screen on an electronic device, she said.
Photo by Marty Cheek
Former Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate and others help pack up BookSmart before its move to their new location at 421 Vineyard Town Center Shopping Center.
“I love books and I want to support our bookstore,” she said. “It’s important for people to read and enjoy books. We need bookstores for lifelong readers and lifelong learners. It’s not all 100 percent digital.”
Jones looked at the 20 or so people helping close the chapter on BookSmart’s saga and described why he was thankful for the help.
“We try to be a community resource and the community constantly gives back to us,” he said. “Most of these people here have been great customers for a long time and they want to see us succeed.”
The new store at Vineyard Town Center is BookSmart’s fourth location. It opened its first location in downtown Morgan Hill in a shop at the corner of Second Street and Monterey Road (across the street from GVA Café.) A few years later it moved a block east to the shopping center on Depot Street and Second Street, a much larger location that included a community room. When the city of Morgan Hill, the owner, sold that property to a developer to build town-homes, BookSmart moved two miles east to a location that previously served as a bike store (next to 88 Keys Café).
The new BookSmart location is about one-fourth the size as the previous store. Jones and Meister believe they will see a lot of customers coming in because the shopping center located a Tennant Avenue and Monterey Road is a more convenient location for many Morgan Hill residents. South Valley people might stop by when they do a grocery run at Nob Hill or take care of some money business at Bank of America, Meister said.
The store will continue to have special events to encourage Morgan Hill residents, and especially families, to come in and have fun and buy books, greeting cards or toys, Meister said, giving a tour of the new location. One event is Baby Blanket Babylon, a weekly event held at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays where parents can bring in their newborn child or 2-year-old toddler to the store and lay on the floor and listen to a storybook being read.
The new store is gaining a lot of attention as people discover it, she said.
“I’ve been seeing people I haven’t seen for two and a half years,” she said. “Everyone has been really happy, well-received, we’re excited.”
Los Altos-based author Robin Chapman visited the store Sunday, Jan. 26, to talk about her new local history book, “Historic Bay Area Visionaries.” About 40 people attended the event, and purchased the book and had her sign it.
Jones said the new location has no cafe for families to come in for a grilled cheese sandwich or other lunch item. He’s especially sad that BookSmart’s new location doesn’t allow for them to keep the tradition of providing the popular Treat Ice Cream, a frozen dessert the store has been selling for 24 years.
“It always felt happy for us to see parents bringing their kids into the store in the afternoon and getting them a book and an ice cream and see how happy the kids were to be there,” he said. “That’s something that was really heart-warming to us.”
Among the loyal customers glad to see BookSmart continue its operation is Morgan Hill resident Lori Cain who loves to bring her three children in to find fun books or games.
“When I need a book for a nine year old and they want a funny one or something that will interest them in reading, they’ll send us to the right place,” she said. “To me, this is like family. We come here for birthday gifts and books that we need.”
Longtime patron Jennifer Tate believes it’s important to continue the tradition of BookSmart in town as a place for families and residents to be able to get books. She and her husband, Steve Tate, spent time boxing books on packing day.
“We’ve always helped out BookSmart. We’ve been backers for a long time, from the very beginning on Second Street,” she said. “I think independent bookstores are the greatest place to buy books. I just love coming in and browsing and having a good time talking to the owners – find out what’s good. Cinda is great in recommending books. She has picked some great ones for me.”
