Turn the page, Buckhannon — a new store will officially open its doors Monday on Main Street, catering to book lovers, vinyl collectors and podcast enthusiasts.
Nicki Bentley-Colthart and Spike Nesmith, co-owners of Volume Bookshop & Studio, decided to open the store to make sure the community has a local source to purchase books.
“We heard that Argo Books was closing, and we hated to see the community lose a bookstore,” Colthart said. “We are readers and lovers of the community, so we wanted to have a space where people can come hang out, pick up a book and try some Scottish/British foods. We have British tea, a few sweets and shortbread, building on Spike’s culture, which is tied to a lot of our Appalachian culture. A lot of us have Scottish heritage, so we wanted to bring a little bit of that here.”
Volume Bookshop & Studio will have a grand opening on Monday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m. The shop is located at 7 East Main Street in Buckhannon, next to Stone Tower Brews.
“He’s a nonfiction reader, I’m a fiction reader, so between the two of us, I think we have a good, well-rounded vision of what’s out there and what people like,” Colthart said. “My first job ever was in a library; I worked at the Upshur County library and put the books back on the shelf when I was 18.”
The store will feature the newest books on the market, old favorites and used books.
“We always want to make it inviting and welcoming. If we don’t have what someone is looking for, we can do orders directly and have it here within a week. Usually, it’s faster than that, and we can do preorders,” Colthart said. “We just want to be a hub where people can come in and have that little adventure through a book.”
People who prefer audiobooks can purchase them from Volume Bookshop & Studio by using Libro.fm.
“Just like Argo, we will accept donations. We’re working on an exchange credit program; it’s not up and running yet, but eventually, you can earn store credit with donations,” Colthart said. “The donations you make help keep those books out of the landfill; that gives somebody else the opportunity to have that journey you went on and that experience as well.”
The space offers a podcast studio.
“I’d say we probably lean more on the books than anything else, but we also have a podcast studio, where if someone wanted to come in and record something, they can use that studio,” Nesmith said. “It’s a nice environment for them to come into if they’re a little bit worried about doing it themselves. You can record a podcast on your phone nowadays, but you have trouble starting sometimes — you don’t feel like people are going to listen to you — so you can come in, get it done professionally, work your way through it.”
Nesmith has more than 30 years of experience in radio, and he is willing to help produce and develop podcasts.
“We’re also going to do packages for recording your family histories or having your grandparents come in and talk about their childhood and get all those stories that we always say we wish we knew more about. We just want to help people get those down,” Colthart said.
Nesmith is also working on an internet stream that will play music and feature community announcements.
“It’s not the same as radio, but it will play music, and it will have community announcements and nonprofit events that are going on,” Nesmith said. “Once an hour, it’ll mention something that’s going on in the community, and that’s something that will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, completely automated, but it will have new stuff coming in all the time.”
The shop will also offer a variety of kids’ books, puzzles, vinyl, art supplies and coloring books. They have also partnered with Back Porch Quilters to sell their quilts.
