A Labyrinth of Sorts

"Choose an identity" -blogger.

What an interesting idea.

Just a thought, though. This post is not about choosing identities; this post is about Hester's. Among other things. I'll let you read.

Over the weekend I was in Lubbock for orientation at Texas Tech, and before we left, my sister took me to an amazing used book store called Hester's. Thus far, it is the most amazing used book store I have ever seen.

We had driven by the shop front before I actually got to go in, but the inside was nothing like I'd expected.

Open the door...

My vision was filled with books--one of my favorite visions. At the front of the store, there were two sectioned off areas bordered by short shelves and stacks of books; the left area hosting the desk of Ms. Renée Hester and the reclining area of the resident dog Max, the right area (I discovered by exploring in there when perhaps I shouldn't have) hosting the home of books needing repair or shelving.

The end of the small right section was bordered by a shelf/display of new books, and to its left stood a cart of gift and bargain books.

Looking past these things, I beheld a large bookcase whose front faced me and the door. The store is divided mainly into those two immediate front sections, a large middle section, and another large section on the left and right sides of the store.

What a boring description I've offered thus far. I know it's also rather redundant since the two people reading this blog have both been in Hester's...

I really just wanted to explain what makes Hester's so amazing to me.

1. The organization
2. The shelving

The second point is the strongest factor. In my mind, there is a fantastic dream library. Being a dream in my mind, it is of course completely unrealistic, as dreams are perfectly allowed to be. The library in my mind is massive, with shelves so high that a sliding ladder is a requirement, yet the size of the space is never overwhelming; the shelves are aligned so that one sees only enough books at a time to gently steal one's breath away--until one rounds a corner and breathes again with a smile because... it keeps going. The aisles are just wide enough to allow a comfortable walking space, but small enough to make one feel comfortably surrounded by books--old, peaceful, whispering friends.

A fantastical dream, of course. I could spend paragraphs describing it, but this is not what this post is about.

The large sections of Hester's are populated by large, friendly bookcases that I guess to be at least 10 or 11 feet tall. They seemed to be a little shorter than two Traceys. They are spaced about 3 or 4 feet apart--just enough room to walk comfortably and experience the wonderful sensation of being surrounded by books. Almost as though the store itself was a shelf, at the end of the aisles single bookcases seamlessly occupied the ending wall, like booky bookends. The way she aligned her shelves, the store was like a labyrinth of books... a very straight and negotiable one, perhaps, but that is the impression I received from it, that of a labyrinth (only certain connotations intended).

As if the cases were not glorious enough already, there were also single shelves that spanned across the aisles at the top of the book cases. Pure genius. My fantastical dream library is being adapted as a result.

The first point, organization, is a strong factor in my amazement as well, though a less romantic one. I don't really feel that I have the stamina to describe it, but I will say that I thought it was done very well.

Hester's amazed me.

Ms. Hester herself was extremely friendly and very talkative. I plan to be in Hester's quite regularly this Fall.

I find writing oddly and uncharacteristically overwhelming these days. I have much more I want to write, but I feel so tired. Sleeping and reading more would help. For now, I mostly just wanted to say that I love Hester's.