Saralee Terry Woods and Larry Woods
Saralee Terry Woods and her husband, Larry Woods, opened the BookManBookWoman in 1995 as a way for Saralee to get rid of some of her husband's "extensive book collection," she says.
Now, as the bookstore prepares to close at the end of the year, Saralee is plotting ways to keep a few special titles in her home collection: a couple of signed Hillary Clinton books, some books from her favorite author Louisa May Alcott and maybe an Emily Dickinson title or two.
Saralee would not discuss rising costs of doing business in Hillsboro Village, but a well placed source tells the Scene that the bookstore was facing a 400 percent increase in its rent next year.
"We wanted to go out on a high note," Saralee Woods says. "Things have changed a little bit in Hillsboro Village, but our business just kept growing and growing. I think that when I started to make plans for next year and I started thinking about what else I wanted to do as a small business owner, I just thought it was a good time to close. It's the holiday season, and it's a way for us to give back that's been so good to us in the community."
The store is offering an extra 50 percent off all used books in the store starting today, and new books will be 20 percent off the cover price.
Matt Johnstone, the organizer of the monthly reading series Et Al., which showcases poets from both inside Music City and around the country, especially feels the loss of the bookstore's extensive poetry section. Johnson's come up with a plan to preserve it.
Johnstone has set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to purchase as many of their poetry books as possible, which he'll then turn into a library in a "communally accessible location (TBD)." In less than a day, he's already raised over $300 of his initial $500 goal.
Stephen Trageser contributed to this report.
