The years I was in the corporate world, this was the time of year when we were required to look backward for a year-end review and forward to define goals for the new year. As much as I did not enjoy the pressure to create those, I recognized the value of doing them. Looking back allowed us to appreciate how far we'd come, even as the chaos of each moment made it feel like we were going nowhere. Even though we didn't always meet our goals, setting them allowed us to stay directionally on path when things started to get crazy. So, I thought, why not attempt a version of that for The Thinking Spot.
2021 Year-In-Review
Before:
As promised at the beginning of the year when I started this journey and in the space of 8 months or so, we went from a thought to a fully functional bookstore! In November we hosted an open house which many of you were able to attend. The intent was just to showcase the collection and get some feedback since the bookcases were still being made. However, the overwhelming response was to stay open anyway, which is exactly what we did. The bookcases finally arrived mid-Dec and once they were secured in their spots, cleaned and shelved, we spent the better part of a week shelving and re-shelving books attempting to create order out of the chaos. Some chaos still remains, for some books are hard to categorize and I'm inclined to let serendipity do its thing, allowing you to find something unexpected when searching for something unrelated. What fun that can be!
We also have a good size collection of toys, games, puzzles as well as greeting cards, notebooks, calendars, and so on. Not to worry, the theme is still STEM and reading.
Space design was another fun part of the opening. We've attempted to arrange the furniture to maximize meandering and discovery at the same time having plenty of spaces to plop down with a handful of books and just browse.
Table-top games - We continue to expand our selection of table-top games now available to borrow and play in-store with your Explorer membership. We currently have Ultimate mastermind, Qwirkle, Flip 4, Sequence, and Dr. Eureka available. More are being added every week.
For the most part, we've figured out how to operate a bookstore - ordering, selling, gift cards, returns, online orders, store pickup, and so on. The online-offline mechanisms are still not completely in sync. Those of us who've had to deal with multiple software vendors not talking to each other will appreciate the difficulties!
Getting the word out is where there is more work to do. While a lot of family, friends and people in our network have discovered the space, the challenge remains of getting the word out to people outside our network. Hoping time and possibly all of you will help with that.
Not strictly a Thinking Spot thing but my personal goal was to read 52 books in 2021 - one a week. I got to about 40. Instead, however, I did read the back flap and publisher notes on thousands of books as I worked through endless lists trying to decide what to carry in-store. My favorites for the year:
All in all, a great year and a great start to a hopefully long and fulfilling journey to make science accessible for everyone around us.
After:
What's coming in 2022:
Collections - one of my goals is to present collections when you walk into the store. Whether about an author in the news, or staff favorites, or best-of- collections, or a specific topic or age group. The hope is for you to find new ones every time you visit and hopefully leave having discovered something new.
Events - We do have our first couple of events scheduled already, with registration available online. We are lining up more events with local authors, scientists, and makers. If you've offered to speak, we'll be reaching out to schedule you soon! My goal is to have at least one event every month this year, with a wide range of topics to cover most interests - Math, science, computing, AI, space, kids, adults, sci-fi, nature, and so on. If you have ideas or recommendations, you know where to find me!
Storytime - I plan to have weekly storytimes for the pre-school crowd. Can't wait to see kids discovering new words, new ideas, and new thoughts in new books!
Space Reservation - The spaces at The Spot are now ready for use. Although we will continue to add on and make them a little better each day, reservations can now be made online or by calling/emailing.
Memberships - Memberships are also now available. You can read about all the perks on the membership page. Memberships are currently at 50% off for the year as we continue to beta-test the value proposition. Memberships bring consistency to our operations and allow us to continue providing the best selection of books and events in-store. It's a great way to support us if you are able. We've attempted to design the perks so it pretty much pays for itself in time.
Workshops - Later in the year we plan to start one-time and recurring workshops on various topics.
Book clubs - Later in the year too, we plan to start a store book club, where we can all read the same book at the same time and get together once a month for sharing and discussion.
And that I think makes a good list of goals for the year. If we can consistently deliver on all 7 points, that will make a good year indeed! I am putting these out here, partly in the hope that you will all help me in the journey. Keep me on task and together we can make science fun, exciting, and popular again!
Keep reading, keep asking questions, and see you in-store soon!