Celia Bookshop is looking to be a third space—a social spot for the community to gather and connect.
The new Swarthmore bookstore opened Oct. 4 at 102 Park Ave., adjacent to the Swarthmore Library, writes Lisa Dukart for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The roughly 1,200-square-foot store took over the former Gallery on Park and Harvey Oak Mercantile, which have both relocated nearby.
The bookstore is named for Joseph Celia, an Italian immigrant who constructed the building for his family shoe business that operated for 50 years.
“I have this sort of fanciful idea that a book and a shoe are like soul sisters,” said the store’s literary director, Rachel Pastan. “In their old-fashioned incarnation, they’re both made out of leather, and they’re hand sewn, and they’re just really important to people, and they support them.”
The new store will have a variety of nearly 8,000 books.
Owner Beth Murray and Pastan are two longtime Swarthmore residents who saw a need for an independent bookstore in the borough about two years ago.
Pastan is the author of four books, with a fifth on the way. Murray had a 20-year career as a lecturer at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Read more about the Celia Bookshop in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
