Where The Books Were

A childhood memory

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Bookstores didn’t exist in my 1960s childhood community. We lived in a rural county dotted with tiny towns. Maybe a small grocery, a five-and-dime, or a pharmacy. Always a feed store and hardware shop — sometimes combined.

We also didn’t have public libraries. The nearest city was 65 miles away when most people rarely drove more than 15 miles in any direction. Many older…