“We hope to impact reading habits.” – Plenty Bookshop
Plenty Downtown Bookshop (Plenty) in Cookeville was recently named “Small Business of the Year” at the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce annual awards ceremony. A dream come true for Lisa Uhrik.
“We were shocked and so thrilled,” said Executive Director Uhrik, accepting the award on behalf of Plenty. “The Small Business of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce has always been a silent dream for me—to be involved with something seen as valuable to our community. And this is especially nice because it recognizes the work of so many people.”
Book culture, celebrated.
“Plenty is the book-culture building work involving tremendous staff professionals, who so many know and love,” said co-founder Dave Uhrik. “And it is fed and led by a lot of people who find space to lead things–from poetry to music to workshops.”
Plenty takes pride in its community.
“Our community creates Plenty–and I mean that they contribute not only by purchasing there, but that our community actively has ideas and leads them, brings things for use in the bookshop, and facilitates a wide array of work in the schools and nonprofit works in our community,” says Lisa Uhrik.
Since the fall of 2002, Plenty has donated to charitable causes and hosted more than 1,000 free micro-events designed to bring people together.
“The reach of this little bookshop blows me away. As a nonprofit, we’ve been able to more easily gift books to places in our community that desperately need them and form partnerships with numerous incredible nonprofits that are also doing great work here. The work we do is the collaborative efforts of many, and we’re really thankful to be a part of it,” co-founder and bookshop manager Ashley Michael.
Michael says those micro-events “bring people together and out of their homes in the best ways,” helping create a healthier and more enriched community through what she calls a “simple bookshop.”
“We hope to impact reading habits, which are at an all-time low for adults and continue to decline with our kids, and to help our community come together and know and appreciate each other,” says Uhrik.
For Podcasts, audiobooks and more events, follow Plenty HERE.
“The heart of this bookshop has always centered around loving our neighbor and being a community space and a source of encouragement and aid for those neighbors. We do it through books, and we love every minute of it,” according to Michael.
Photo via Plenty Downtown Bookstore.
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