A local book store is finding an innovative way to connect to children during these difficult times. Jessica Gale, owner and operator of Our Town Books on the square, says that they have continued their story time for children albeit in a different way. Gale says she live streams the Children’s Story Time from the children’s section on her IPhone for kids and parents still wishing to hear a story Tuesday through Saturday at 11AM. “I just read a few books to the camera. It’s taken about 20 minutes the last few days. I’ve also had a couple of friends and a local business owner that have volunteered to guest read. We’re going to start doing that today. It’ll be fun to have a different face for a story. I’m getting a lot of great feedback from the community. People are just really enjoying story time with their kids in this very uncertain time.”
Gale says that she has continued to take orders for customers despite closing browsing hours store. “Tuesday through Saturday, we’re open limited hours 10AM-1PM. These are non-browsing hours so people can’t come in and look at books, but they can place special orders, ask me if I have a certain title, or they can pick up books that they’ve ordered. I also have an online portal where people can order gift certificates and I can send those by mail or they can come pick them up. They can also submit orders for books through the portal. I’ve been getting quite a few people ordering as the week has gone on and people are stuck inside. I’m getting more online orders, which is very encouraging.”
Gale says she has made gift certificates at the store 10% off to give people a discount while also helping her business. Gale says she is working on ideas for adult story time and poetry reading as well as care packages for customers who wish to send books to relatives and friends who are staying at home. To visit the online portal for ordering go to https://ourtownbooks.square.site/ or call at 217-245-2665. For the children’s story time, visit them on Facebook. Gale has also been featuring some books and sales on the store’s Instagram page.