Hundreds of volunteers helped get books to new location in Chelsea, Michigan

[BetteDavisEyes]

A Michigan community takes a novel approach to moving 9,100 books for shop's next chapter

One by one, hundreds of volunteers helped get the books to their new location in Chelsea, Michigan.

www.nbcnews.com

In a heartwarming show of community spirit, the small town of Chelsea, Michigan, pulled off a literary feat worthy of its own novel.

When the beloved local bookstore Serendipity Books announced it was moving to a larger space, owner Michelle Tuplin was faced with a logistical challenge: how to move 9,100 books — and hundreds of boxes — without closing the business for days.

"People really consider independent bookstores theirs," Tuplin said Tuesday. "It’s really a part of the community, and they have ownership."

So she came up with a novel idea...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

See how a Michigan town moved 9,100 books one by one to their new home

The “book brigade” of around 300 people stood in two lines running along a sidewalk in downtown Chelsea on Sunday.

www.detroitnews.com

Chelsea — Residents of all ages in a small Michigan community formed a human chain and helped a local bookshop move each of its 9,100 books — one by one — to a new storefront about a block away.

The “book brigade” of around 300 people stood in two lines running along a sidewalk in downtown Chelsea on Sunday, passing each title from Serendipity Books' former location directly to the correct shelves in the new building, down the block and around the corner on Main Street.

“It was a practical way to move the books, but it also was a way for everybody to have a part,” Michelle Tuplin, the store's owner, said. “As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one.’”...