Member-only story
What To Know About Working In a Bookstore
Interested in a bookselling career? Here’s what to actually expect.
When I was a teenager, I used to drive to the local library and shop their Friends of the Library bookstore. At the time most of the books there were fifty cents for a paperback and a couple dollars for a hardcover. I filled my bookshelves at home with these books. I spent so much time at the library that I started looking for opportunities to work there. I ended up getting an internship with the city the summer I graduated high school, and was placed as the assistant to a children’s librarian at one of the city libraries in San Diego.
It was through working at the library I realized that I did not want to be a librarian. But I did enjoy working with the library patrons and being around books. Later, when I started community college, I volunteered one day a week at a Friend of the Library bookstore. Shelving and selling books immediately felt comfortable to me. It was fun to recommend titles to customers; to run around looking for a specific book they were hoping we had; to chat about books while ringing them up on the register.
It was these experiences — along with running a successful book review blog — that helped me land a full-time job as a used book buyer for an independent bookstore. I got to sort…
