Changing Hands Celebrates 30 Years as a Community Center

In the early '70s, when Gayle Shanks was a teacher at an alternative school in central Phoenix, she and her friends used to gather on the porch at the end of the day and talk about what they were going to do when they "grew up." One day, they came up with the idea of opening their own brand of bookstore -- one where books would become the focus of the community, and they and their books would shape how their customers viewed the world, and, of course, they'd get to read all day….

"My early fantasy days," recalled Shanks, one of the owners of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, with a chuckle.

But three decades years later, that fantasy has been realized -- in ways that Shanks never envisioned. Changing Hands Bookstore, which turned 30 on April 1, 2004, has become that community gathering place she and her friends envisioned, where "social responsibility is part of our business," Shanks told BTW. However, she was quick to point out that one key part of the fantasy did not come true: She has never had time to read books while working.

That aside, Shanks said she's lucky to be a bookseller. "It's been a long run, filled with peaks and valleys, but there have been few days where I haven't awoken looking forward to going to work. It's still fun after all these years."

Shanks founded Changing Hands in 1974 with her husband, Bob Sommer, and a friend, Tom Brodersen, who eventually left the store. Shanks' and Sommer's current partners are Pinna Joseph and Susie Brazil. "[When the store opened], I never would have believed we would last five years," she said. "But here we are selling books to many of the same people in the community as when we first opened."

Since its opening, Changing Hands has grown from 500 square feet to 16,000 square feet and moved locations. At one point, there were two Changing Hands -- one in downtown Tempe and one in the suburbs -- but the downtown bookstore closed in 2000. Today, Changing Hands is not only a popular gathering place for the community, the Arizona Republic referred to it as a "Mecca" for authors -- a store renowned for bringing in prominent local and nationally bestselling authors.

"There have been so many wonderful authors, sharing their lives with customers and the staff," Shanks said. "Barbara Kingsolver comes to mind, she is a dear friend of the store … and Amy Tan with her dogs … Madeleine Albright, who stood up and said, 'Ask me anything, I no longer work for the government!'''

When asked to define the secrets of the store's success, Shanks just laughed. "I think you just keep plugging away," she noted. "Selling great books, keeping your staff energized, and [staying] connected to the community -- those things allow you to stay in business. We have an extremely supportive community, and we have had remarkable booksellers over the years."

While burnout is common in many other professions, for Shanks, bookselling keeps her energized. "Our colleagues in this business are like no other business'," she explained, and added it's been the support of booksellers and colleagues in the publishing industry that "has kept me going for 30 years."

The bookstore's owners have scheduled a belated birthday bash for Changing Hands on April 24, though there has been, and will be, other celebratory events during the month. On April 22, the Arizona State University creative writing department will hold a reading about Changing Hands, which will include a number of authors. For the birthday party on April 24, there will be live music all day, activities for kids, short readings throughout the day, and even chair massages, among other events. --David Grogan