Mrs. Nelson’s Offers Library Services to Other Indie Bookstores

In 2005, Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop in La Verne, California, created its Library Services Division as a way to expand its business and compete head-on with wholesale book jobbers. Offering Library Services has “helped us get business on a bigger scale,” said Patrick Nelson, who manages the Library Services Division.  “We’re able to have these different branches (there’s also a Book Fair Division), which have made us a stronger company while we still have the independent bookstore, which remains at the heart of our business.”

Mrs. Nelson's Library Services include cataloging, binding, and processing.

Now, Nelson is hoping that other indie bookstores will see the benefit of partnering with Mrs. Nelson’s Library Services to offer book binding, cataloging, processing, and more to their own customers.

“Because our business is centered around a retail bookstore, we have a unique perspective and business model that other [service] companies don’t have,” said Nelson, adding that the quick turn-around and affordable price that Mrs. Nelson’s offers are designed specifically for independent bookstores. “I also have a passion to see indie bookstores succeed, and I feel that bookstores need to look for other avenues of sales to strengthen their business.”

Since educational publishers dominate the market when it comes to special-order, library-bound books, teachers and librarians don’t often think to go to their independent bookstore for these services, but Nelson said he hopes to change that.

“Independent bookstores already have a really strong, loyal following,” he said. “With this, the bookstore can provide everything librarians and teachers need.”

Books are bound in Mrs. Nelson's bindery.

Bookstores working with their local schools and libraries can send books directly to Mrs. Nelson’s for binding. For larger quantities of new books, stores can order from the publisher and direct the books be shipped to Mrs. Nelson’s.

In May, Mrs. Nelson’s Library Services started working with Russo’s Books in Bakersfield, California, and both have benefited from the arrangement.

“It’s been a very nice partnership,” said Thomas Robinson, business development manager at Russo’s. “They offer a lot of things that we don’t, so we were able to pick up some business that we wouldn’t have had.”

Robinson has a strong link to the community, and often visits schools in the area. When the two stores first partnered, Robinson attended a school district meeting with sample items to show teachers and librarians. From that initial meeting, a school made an order to have textbooks rebound.

“When they got the work back, other schools and librarians saw how good the product was,” said Robinson, “And it had a domino effect.”

Russo’s also works with health and government organizations that have made use of its services through Mrs. Nelson’s, as did a customer who wanted help publishing a biography of a local personality.

“It’s been well received, and the product is fantastic,” Robinson said. “Customers that we’ve had for years are excited that this is an option for them.”

Booksellers interested in learning about Mrs. Nelson’s Library Services should contact Patrick Nelson at (800) 875-9911 or via e-mail.