Two Harding Academy high school students have opened a bookstore in downtown Searcy. The Book Nest had a flash opening on Saturday, Aug. 24, but does not have regular hours yet.
\nThe founders, sisters Maryella and Julianne Baker, said they always wanted a bookstore and chose to start this nonprofit business to benefit local foster care organization Sparrow\u2019s Promise.
\n\u201cI love reading,\u201d Maryella said \u201copening up a bookstore was always a dream of mine.\u201d
\nSparrow\u2019s Promise is a faith-based organization that helps families who foster children. The Baker sisters said they hope to benefit Sparrow\u2019s Promise as much as they can through their bookstore.
\nBrandon Tittle, executive director of Sparrow\u2019s Promise, said he thinks The Book Nest will benefit both Sparrow\u2019s Promise and the Searcy community as a whole.
\n\u201cWe are excited to be able to partner with the supporters working to open The Book Nest,\u201d Tittle said \u201cWe think it\u2019s a win-win for the community, as we will now have access to a second bookstore while supporting the strengthening of local families at the same time.\u201d
\nAs of right now, Sparrow\u2019s Promise is the only organization that The Book Nest benefits, but the Baker sisters are hoping to extend their reach to other foster care organizations in the future.
\n\u201cWe would love for The Book Nest to not only benefit Sparrow\u2019s Promise, but we don\u2019t know what that\u2019s going to look like yet,\u201d Julianne said.
\nAlthough the bookstore has not announced official hours, The Book Nest opened for a few hours during Searcy\u2019s Beats & Eats on Saturday, Aug. 24, to spread awareness and encourage book donations. It also opened for irregular hours in the weeks that followed, as announced on social media.
\n\u201cWe planned on doing a flash opening at Beats & Eats because we knew more people would learn about the bookstore if we did,\u201d Julianne said \u201cand we ended up having a lot of people come.\u201d
\nThe Book Nest has mainly received book donations from friends and families who heard about the need through social media.
\nAs high school business owners, the Baker sisters said they are still trying to learn how to operate and manage a business while also keeping up with their academic obligations.
\n\u201cIn the summer, it was really easy just to go up to the bookstore and work,\u201d Maryella said \u201cand now it\u2019s easy to just go after school. But if we\u2019re going to be a regular day-to-day business, we\u2019ll have to have normal hours.”
\nThe sisters hope to eventually hire more workers once the business has a steadier income. Right now, they have only had volunteers. They also hope to sell books online.
\n\u201cWe want to sell books online so that if we ever do get slower in the store, we can still have income from an online business,\u201d Maryella said.
\nThe sisters plan to open the store around the beginning of September and hope to get as much traction and as many visitors as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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