 Hello bookworms! We've made it half-way though this crazy year and things don't seem like they'll be slowing down anytime soon. Don't worry though, we are here for you. We have curated several reading lists sure to keep you flipping those pages. But before we get to the fun stuff, let's get the business updates out of the way. We're going to start with a letter from the owner, Mary Ruthless. A Letter from the OwnerAs many of you know, we have taken Covid-19 very seriously. We continue to keep up with the status of cases in Watauga County as a way to inform our decisions about store policies. Since even before Phase 2 started, the number of active cases & individuals being monitored has continued to increase. Despite that, we felt that we could keep ourselves and our customers reasonably safe with the proper precautions which is why we opened up by appointment in June. Initially, we were very excited to welcome our customers back to the store. However, as the month progressed, we were met with hostility & anger. Folks who hadn't scheduled an appointment wanted to be let into the store immediately. In one case, a customer actually attempted to push our bookseller out of the doorway so they could enter the store. Folks who did schedule appointments were always respectful but, as customers became more comfortable within our space, we found that some were increasingly forgetful of the rules we put in place to keep our everyone safe. Everything from wearing a mask to social distancing while in the store became an argument. I, as an business owner, have a moral imperative to put my staff's safety & the safety of ALL our customers above the desires of a few. It is not reasonable to ask my booksellers to continue to serve folks who will not respect our policies & boundaries, especially while cases continue to rise. After a discussion between myself & our booksellers, we have decided to revert back to pickup, delivery, and shipping only. This was not an easy decision to make. The book business is notorious for being a career that you go into because you love, not because you want to make money. However, the pandemic has been extremely hard on Foggy Pine Books. We're doing our best to hang on through this difficult time but, with a lack of resources & income to help keep us here, the struggle has been ongoing. So, closing our doors to folks isn't something I do lightly. I am deeply concerned about the future of the store but that concern is minuscule compared to my concern for the health & safety of myself, my staff, our customers, and our community. I hope that you understand and will continue to shop with us online, over the phone, and via email. Books have been a great comfort to us during these stressful times. We hope you will allow us to continue serving you in this limited capacity so we can all stay safe and, hopefully, return to business as usual when this is over. If you have any questions, please reach out to us by phone or email.
 As you know, we have put together an antiracist reading list for our community of readers. We have over 250 titles on our master list and will continue to add to it as we move forward. The list includes titles for all ages (kids & teens included) and has expanded to include antiracist titles by authors of all backgrounds. You can browse see them in their individual categories or scroll through the main list to see more titles. Please be aware many titles are backordered right now but will be arriving soon. We have tried to include as many books as possible that are currently in stock but if you want to be sure before placing an order, just give us a call at 828-386-1219 to check on inventory status. Foggy Pine Books + Black in Boone
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September 2021
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