Book Lover
River Bend Bookshop owner changed her career to live a dream
She quit her corporate career to pursue a dream. Now she runs a bookstore in Glastonbury.
GLASTONBURY — Meghan Hayden seems to ask the question on many people’s minds as they pass her new Main Street bookshop.
“Why I would do a crazy thing like this?” she asks with a laugh. “That’s all right. It’s something I really believe in.”
Hayden recently opened River Bend Bookshop at 2217 Main St. on “Book Friday” (“We took back Black Friday,” she said) in the former Jan’s On Main, a clothing boutique.
It’s an almost step-back-in-time bookshop complete with a bell on the door that announces customers. Hundreds of books line shelves along with items made by area artisans.
A mother who turned away from a 20-year career in corporate human resources, Hayden is living a dream by owning her own bookshop. Here’s a look at how she came to still believe in Main Street USA and how she hopes to win customers in a competitive book world of online shopping, big boxes and best-selling novels downloaded on Smartphones.
First book operation
Hayden was a fixture at the town’s farmers market. She said she was popular there because everyone wanted to meet the person who would haul 500 pounds of books down to the
Riverfront Park each week for a three-hour market.
“People were like, ‘Wow, you must be really committed to this idea.’ And then they want to talk,” she said.
Fridays as a reading volunteer
For the past six years, Hayden has been a volunteer reader for the United Way, spending time at Alfred E. Burr Elementary School in Hartford. Each Friday she works with a first or second grader falling behind grade level reading.
“The idea is you’ll be one more adult in their life that cares about reading, that gets them excited about it and that celebrates them as they make progress. … Mostly it is joy because kids open up to you so quickly,” she said. “They know right away that you are their person and they look forward to you coming in. I wanted more of that in my life.”
What’s in the bookshop
Hayden and her part-time staff of writers and poets handpick the books that are in the shop. In the children’s section, there are reviews written by Hayden’s son and best friend as well as others in the neighborhood. Hayden said she wanted to make the children’s room warm and inviting and specialize in a diversity of stories with new titles and authors.
“While we carry all the classics you would expect to see, we have a lot of books you really wouldn’t find in other places,” she said. “We wanted it to be representative of the world we live in. … We don’t want to beat you over the head with issues, but we want to have kids use books as both mirrors and windows, so they can see themselves in the story and in the world around them.”
The adult section includes fiction, nonfiction, nature and science, self-care, spirituality, cookbooks and garden books. There are plenty of mysteries because “people of Glastonbury seem to love a good mystery,” Hayden said.
She plans to have local authors in the store on the weekends and writer’s workshops with special guests. Look for a schedule by visiting www.riverbendbookshop.com for more information.
“People who care about books and people who care about sharing stories have a good way of finding each other. It didn’t take too long for people to start coming through the door,” she said.
What’s in a name?
The Connecticut River takes a few bends as it passes through Glastonbury.
“I really liked the symbolism,” she said. “Things slow down at the curve and so come on in and slow down a little. I wanted something with a sense of place. The logo is a river and a book.”
Too much competition from big-box and internet?
“River Bend and the indie bookstores can do all the things that big guys can do,” she said. “We can order books. We can do audio books and e-books. We can also do tons of things that Amazon can never do like know your kids’ names and what number series they are on and which series they are going to like next.”
Hayden said while she enjoys the occasional book on the phone or audio book on a car trip, nothing beats the original.
“I love a paper book, especially with kids. You don’t want to sit down with a three-year-old and a screen. You want to sit down with a book. That’s part of the whole experience. I very strongly believe in breaking away from the screen for a good old-fashioned book,” she said.