The story of Bookish 

Bookish began over dinner at a local restaurant, when a wine-fueled conversation between friends turned into sharing our ideas for making Modesto even better. After all, Modesto has live theater and entertainment, a thriving farmer’s market, a fabulous new children’s museum, walking trails and innovative local thinkers. 

But still, something’s missing: an independent bookstore. 

After all, bookstores are places for discovery and escape, where you can lose yourself in words, where you can connect and collaborate and create community. Wouldn’t it be great if we had that in Modesto?

And just like that, Bookish was born. 

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Let’s back up for a second to introduce ourselves. 

Paula Treick DeBoard is a novelist and lecturer at UC Merced; Will DeBoard spent seventeen years at The Modesto Bee, writing about high school sports. We’re the type of people/nerds who visit bookstores on vacation and talk books with anyone who will listen. Over the last year, we’ve also learned about owning and operating a small business–the finances, the market analysis, the networking, the risks and rewards. 

Oh, and… we fell in love with a space and signed a long-term lease.

Help us bring Bookish to life

We envision Bookish as a space for inspiration, ideas and imagination. A place where you can connect and collaborate at our gathering table, grab coffee while the kids browse our fabulous children’s section, pick up a last-minute gift for your bookish friend, and check out the work of local artists and makers. We also envision Bookish as a place for live music and readings, and a welcoming space for community gatherings and events. It’s all about the literary goodness.

Over the next few months, we’ll be renovating our space and getting ready to open our doors. We’re looking forward to:

• New flooring, paint (even a mural!), lighting and an upgraded bathroom

• The addition of a coffee corner with hot and cold drinks and baked treats

• Lots and lots of bookshelves (and, oh my goodness, so many books)

• Comfy chairs throughout the store, so you can relax with a new read

• Stocking handmade goods from local artists and makers

• Hiring a small staff of local booklovers 

• Installing a point of sales system to catalog all new and used books

• Developing an ecommerce website, so you can buy from anywhere

We’re going into this knowing that bookselling is a challenging business. Independent bookstores face a major online competitor (ahem) and other large national retailers. But also: we’re ready for it. We’re building more than a bookstore; Bookish is a place for creating community, and that can’t be ordered with the click of a button. 

• 50% of the funds raised here will help with renovating our store and building our website

•  The other 50% will get us off the ground as we hire employees and establish our customer base

Please help us bring Bookish to life! You’re making Modesto a better place along the way.