Kelsey Simons shows off a rock specially painted for the store by the Battle Ground Rocks group. Simons said the store is full of hidden painted rocks for customers to find and hide.
New owner of Literary Leftovers Kelsey Simons talks about the most popular section of the used bookstore, the mystery section. Simons said one of her favorite authors growing up was Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Local used bookstore “Literary Leftovers” quietly changed ownership during October. After a month of barcoding, rearranging and clearing out stock, new owner Kelsey Simons hosted a grand opening for the store on the weekend of Nov. 8.
“I like to think it was a huge success,” Simons said. “I can easily say we sold over 500 books during the celebration.”
Simons said the celebration was complete with gift baskets, candy and books for attendees.
“The community has been super supportive of me,” she said.
She said many members of the local community are happy the store didn’t close after previous owner Candi Snyder announced she would be moving on as the owner of the store.
“We have truly loved and enjoyed each and every moment we have owned Literary Leftovers! We have made some truly extraordinary friendships with all of you. And so many good moments that would not have been possible without customers like you!” Candi and Tom Snyder said in a Facebook post in late September. “I am moving on to the next chapter in my story, but don’t worry, the bookstore is not going anywhere! Starting October 1, The bookstore will be taken over by a wonderful family that has a great vision for the future of Literary Leftovers!”
As for her vision for the future, one of the first things Simons did as owner of the store was digitize as much as she could with barcodes and an online database.
“So far we have about 14,000 things barcoded,” she said, adding that the store carries about 30,000 total books.
Simons said she didn’t move too many books around and hopes to one day make the store “Battle Ground’s Homeschool Headquarters” and have an entire section dedicated to used homeschool curriculum.
“A lot of the required curriculums for homeschooling are only available online and they are expensive,” Simons said. “I’d like to make homeschool curriculum accessible and affordable.”
Simons said she also hopes to turn the back room of the store into a tutoring room.
“I used to teach reading intervention,” she said. “I love to watch kids read, learn how to read and experience reading.”
According to Simons, the “Homeschool Headquarters” and tutoring room were both ideas she had before she bought the store.
“That’s what I was really thinking about when buying the store,” she said.
Along with making homeschool curriculum more accessible, Simons said she has made books more affordable with her new pricing plan at the store: all hardbacks are $5, all trade paperbacks are $4 and all mass-market is $3.
“I really wanted to even out the pricing,” Simons said.
Simons said she is excited to take the store into the future and hopes to offer reading material for the whole community. She said all past trade credit is still honored at the store. As for herself, she said she has been so over-booked with the store, she hasn’t had a chance to read. “I haven’t read one book since I bought the store,” she said.
