Congratulations to Chelsea's Serendipity Books!

A cool grant initiative is giving Serendipity Books a helpful boost.

The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation recently announced the Survive to Thrive recipients and Serendipity is one. 

Survive to Thrive is a special, one-time store grant initiative that will give awards to 115 independent bookstores and comic shops totaling $1.1 million. Ninety-nine stores will receive grants of $10,000 and 16 will receive $7,500.

Serendipity Books is one of the 99 bookstores getting $10,000. This should help ensure that Chelsea has a robust and vibrant independent bookstore in its midst.

Serendipity Books announced the great news on Facebook:

The Survive to Thrive grant was announced and indie bookstores exploded in nervous excitement. 10K. Imagine what 10K could do to boost 200 deserving bookstores across the nation. Was it even silly to think about?

I sharpened my pencil. I told the story of Chelsea and beyond and the support showered on Serendipity Books during the pandemic. I wrote about piles of special orders, private shopping, those dreadful gloves we wore, virtual events, contact-free pick-up, and deliveries to the retirement communities. I detailed the bookstore's mission, matching books to customers and supporting literacy, inquiry, and diverse thought in our small midwestern town. I described how 10K would enable Serendipity Books to forge ahead, heavily investing in additional curated inventory just right for our town. Then I put my pencil down and waited…

Congratulations, Chelsea! We did it. Expect Serendipity Books to leap from strength to strength on the back of this extraordinarily generous grant. We are all winners!! It's because I could tell the story of a town that showed how much they wanted a robust and thriving independent bookstore. Thank you, Chelsea, and thank you Binc!

#SurvivetoThrive, #S2T, #ThinkBinc

The Sun Times News reached out to Serendipity owner Michelle Tuplin to congratulate her and ask a few questions.

“The extraordinary support Serendipity Books received during the pandemic demonstrates a community that wants a thriving independent bookstore,” said Tuplin. “Matching individual customers with their perfect book from our curated collection will always be the mission of Serendipity Books. This generous grant ensures that Serendipity Books can move from strength to strength as we fulfill our mission and serve our community.”

According to Binc, the grant recipients were determined by a juried application process with the goal of assisting stores that were poised to make a strong recovery from the pandemic.

“We are incredibly pleased to announce grants to stores in 48 states. Bookstores and comic shops are vital to the cultural and economic fabric of their communities, and by helping to retain these community anchors, we are helping to preserve the literacy, economic and social benefits bookstores and comic shops provide,” said Pamela French, Binc’s Executive Director, in the announcement of the grant recipients. “Every bookstore and comic shop is important to their community, and we are delighted to help as many as we can. Thank you to everyone who donated to Survive to Thrive. Every gift made a difference in helping these stores recover, survive and thrive.”

Binc’s announcement said “The Survive to Thrive initiative was launched in March with a leading gift of $500,000 jointly from Ingram Charities and Ingram Content Group. Survive to Thrive received strong support from across the publishing and bookselling communities…”

So what will Serendipity do with this grant support?

Serendipity Books and Tuplin said they “intend to heavily invest in additional curated inventory just right for our town. We will also be able to expand our hours to seven days a week, with evening hours on Fridays.”

Serendipity is located in downtown Chelsea at 113 W. Middle St.