3 education leaders call G’town home
For the past seven years Carolyn Wright has fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning a bookstore. On July 12 that dream will come to an end as the Bookstop Plus on Bartlett Road will close its doors after more than 30 years. Wright, who has Parkinson’s disease, can no longer run the store on her own.
Like any good bookstore, at Bookstop Plus in Bartlett the shelves do not suffice. There are books on the floor, covering the desk and stacked in corners.
It’s not the books, though, that keep the people coming back, but rather that special attention Carolyn Wright gives her customers.
But due to failing health, on July 12, Wright is closing the shop at 2810 Bartlett Road, which has been open for more than 30 years. She has owned Bookstop Plus for seven years.
Wright, 69, worked for more than 30 years in a law office and always knew that when she retired she wanted to open a bookstore. “I’ve always loved books,” said Wright. “I love to read.”
This bibliophilia is a characteristic that Wright shares with her many customers. Janet Reader, Wright’s sister, has been helping Wright with the store.
Reader says people have been asking them to keep the doors open. “They all beg us, ‘Please don’t close!’ But, the reality is we just can’t keep it going anymore.”
Within the last couple years, Wright was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and the symptoms and medical bills have piled up quickly.
“It’s a horrible disease,” Reader said. “Carolyn’s tough, she doesn’t want to give up. It’s just there are too few family members able to go up and help out every day at the store.”
Wright has been trying to sell the store, but with no success. Bookstop Plus was open for 25 years when Wright took over, and she had hoped to find somebody willing to take over the Bartlett institution. If it can’t be saved, Reader says, a technicality in local laws may prevent another used bookstore from opening in the suburb.
“The bookstore was grandfathered in, but there’s a law now that prohibits the sale of used merchandise,” Reader said. “So as far as I understand it, if Carolyn’s store closes there can never be another used bookstore in Bartlett.”
The distress and nostalgia that accompany the closing of neighborhood bookstores are all too familiar of late. “It’s more than just a place to buy books,” Reader said. “It’s a place to go for maybe a quiet hour — to visit, to read or simply to get out and about.”
But Reader joked that their bills are indifferent to Wright’s medical issues. “For some reason, MLGW won’t take books for payment!”
Through their last day on July 12, the sisters are offering massive sales to clear their inventory.
For Wright, providing that special space for reading has been an honor and a blessing. “It’s been a dream come true,” she said.
Reader tries to console her sister: “Some people never get their dream; at least you’ve lived yours even just for seven years.”
Germantown, a city that 40,123 call home, can boast of a strong national voice in education:
Two of its residents simultaneously held the presidential seats for the National Parent Teacher Association and the National School Boards Association, and another resident holds a state title.
“It’s a unique occurrence that state and national leadership are from the same town,” said former national PTA president Betsy Landers, referring to PTA Tennessee president Charla Sparks and current National School Boards president David Pickler.
Landers said the unusual qualities of Germantown made the municipality a focal point for education, as she looked back on her two years in office that ended June 23.
“I started in PTA because of my children and somewhere along the line I realized how important this is,” Landers said. “I am an advocate at heart and that will continue long after my presidency.”
Landers and Pickler met 25 years ago when Pickler’s wife and Landers participated in PTA at their children’s school.
“You might think that something like this would happen in a larger city like New York,” Pickler said. “It’s a great testament of the parent involvement in Germantown and Shelby County. We’re at the epicenter of education.”
Landers said the nine schools in Germantown serve as a prototype for what education could look like for the entire country because they all have a strong PTA presence. “It highlights what can be done when parents and educators come together for the purpose of making our schools better,” she said.