If you ask Laurie McGinnis, owner of Second Chapter Books in Ligonier, how her lifelong love of books originated, she’ll tell you a story that would sound like something out of a movie. When she was growing up, her parents, Wyatt and Nancy Young, would take her to visit her great uncle, also named Wyatt, in Allen, Kentucky. The eternal bachelor was a rare book dealer who lived alone in a large home that had previously been an old hotel. His kitchen cabinets held a clean serving for one, and the rest of the bowls and plates were unused and dusty. Throughout the rest of the rooms stood piles and piles of books, some reaching the ceilings. Towers of books lined the staircase and were even stacked in the bathroom! After the family set up their air mattresses and settled in, her mother would get to work helping Uncle Wyatt by typing up a list of his latest books for sale. Laurie and her younger brother Doug would go exploring, room to room, in awe of the enormous collection of old texts.
These visits to this big old home-turned-unorganized library sparked a deep interest in books for Laurie, but her parents also fueled the fire by reading to her often. When asked to read to their children, both parents would always happily oblige. Her father also delighted in telling them made-up stories at bedtime. Laurie and Doug’s favorite were his ‘Michael & Jane’ tales. The children in his imaginative stories were from colonial times, and just to be sure Laurie and Doug were paying attention, their dad would test them by mentioning modern conveniences like a car or refrigerator. This would prompt both kids to excitedly protest and point out that those things didn’t exist in colonial times. Laurie fondly remembers how books and stories brought her family closer together.
When her great Uncle Wyatt passed away more than thirty-five years ago, he willed his entire collection of books to Laurie’s parents. The expansive lot of books was moved to Ligonier. Wyatt and Nancy Young needed to do SOMETHING with all those BOOKS. The natural solution to this problem was to sell them. This was the beginning of Laurie’s parents’ bookstore, Drummer Boy Books. It was housed in ‘the old Dairy Queen building’, a victorian home that once stood on Market Street near the Ligonier YMCA. They began selling used books, and then started adding new, contemporary books into the mix. Drummer Boy Books moved six times within Ligonier over the next twenty years, and their many loyal customers followed.
In the meantime, Laurie had gotten a degree in social work, and worked for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. She married, started a family, and then decided to pause her career to raise her son. Right around the time when she was starting to consider entering the workforce again, her parents announced their desire to retire from their twenty-year run as booksellers. It was a soul-searching decision, but the timing was right, and the career was in line with Laurie’s love of books. So she chose to take over her parents’ business. Drummer Boy Books was the first chapter, and now Laurie’s new store was the second…
This was the birth of Second Chapter Books.
Laurie transformed her parents’ business into something that is very much her own, carrying an eclectic mix of gift items, many made by local craftsmen, in addition to used and new books. She has whimsical handmade jewelry and a soy-based candle line. There are locally-made leather belts, mugs, even some adorable crocheted star-wars figurines. Laurie likes to ‘think globally’ by selling several fair-trade items in her shop. There’s a selection of new and used children’s books and unique small toys. She also has a very popular collection of irreverent, sarcastic cards.
Second Chapter Books hosts an informal book club that was started twenty-five years ago by her mother, Nancy. They meet monthly at local restaurants to discuss the book selection. Sometimes they talk about the book for hours, and sometimes only five minutes, then catch up on all the latest details of each other's lives. There are a few ladies that still faithfully attend that were part of the original club at Drummer Boy Books.
Laurie says she feels very fortunate to be part of the ‘experience’ of Ligonier - a beautiful town with a strong sense of community that has a unique blend of businesses. Every Friday around 4pm, people who are wandering through Ligonier’s merchant district are pleasantly surprised when they find that Second Chapter Books offers an informal happy hour. Laurie pours complementary glasses of wine for her patrons to sip as a small crowd grows inside her shop. They often end up in the sweet little gated courtyard that’s located at the side of the building, with two umbrella tables surrounded by about twenty potted flowers and plants.
Laurie’s always happy when a customer finds themselves relaxing comfortably on the cushy loveseat in the back of the store, a place that she calls her ‘Nook’. That customer is doing exactly what Laurie has always loved to do - propping their feet up with a good book in their lap. There is a sense of pride and fulfillment that has come from continuing the long-running business of her parents. We are grateful to Laurie for keeping the tradition of a sweet little bookstore in our lovely town.
Get settled in, because The Second Chapter has only just begun.
Follow along with Second Chapter Books here.
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