In Chelsea, Michigan, the local bookstore has quite a story of its own -- a story that began when Michelle Tuplin, owner of Serendipity Books, decided to relocate her business to larger space. Steve Hartman has more.

Chelsea

In Chelsea, Michigan, an inspiring community effort took place when Serendipity Books needed to relocate to a larger space. The bookstore, owned by Michelle Tuplin, faced the daunting task of moving 9,000 books to a new location down the street. The move required passing by ten other storefronts and navigating around a corner, which presented logistical challenges.

Michelle Tuplin considered traditional methods such as using a truck, but the associated costs made it unfeasible. Instead, she called upon her community for help, hoping for a few volunteers. To her surprise, over 300 people turned up to assist. Volunteers formed two human chains, effectively creating a "book brigade" to transfer the books to the new space.

This gathering of volunteers was not just about moving books but turned into a significant community event. Participants, representing all generations, shared in a sense of unity and cooperation, a welcome contrast to the divisions often seen in society today. For Michelle, the experience was uplifting and bolstered her belief in the inherent goodness of people. Although the move required enormous effort, it reinforced her decision to make this location the bookstore's permanent home.



Moving a Michigan bookstore by human chain

There's an old proverb about neighbors helping neighbors that goes, many hands make light work. But how would that apply to getting through a mountain of books? Here's Steve Hartman on the road. In Chelsea, Michigan, the local bookstore has quite a story of its own. I'm bringing this out. A story that began when Michelle Tuplin, owner of Serendipity Books, decided to relocate her business to a larger space. I knew it was going to be great. But you didn't know how you were going to get the books over. No, the actual logistics, the details, not so much. And she had 9,000 books. Of course, she could have carried them all, but have you ever tried moving book boxes? Good luck lifting anything after. She could have hired a hero with a truck, but that was cost prohibitive. So how then did she hope to move all these volumes to their new homes? Like this. Like a bucket brigade, but with books instead. At this point, you should know, it's not like she was moving next door. Follow me. The new location was down the block, then around the corner, down another 200 feet, past 10 other storefronts to here. Making it work would require a good chunk of the town to volunteer. Well, that was the math thing that I never quite figured out. So I thought, OK, well, we'll just ask for help, cross our fingers, and hope for the best. With no idea how many people would show up. No. No. And so it was. With that blind faith that Michelle showed up to move her bookstore last month and found this. Enough volunteers to stretch the whole way twice. Two lines made up of more than 300 volunteers. It was overwhelming. For those of us who can't even get close friends to help us move, this defies logic. But folks in Chelsea say they were craving something that day. Community. In our divided country, here was a gathering, neither rally nor protest. I just felt uplifted. It just made me feel good. Such a happy atmosphere. All generations all together working towards something. Exactly what life I think should be. As for Michelle, she says it completely restored her faith in humanity. I think there's a basic trust that people are generally good. And that was massively emotional. Does all this make you want to move again? Oh, I'm never moving again. So no sequel. This is our forever home. But still, a literary masterpiece. Steve Hartman, On the Road, in Chelsea, Michigan.

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