20 Years of EVERYbody Reads

‘Every child can find a book that tells their story’

Bustling with customers old and new, the EVERYbody Reads bookstore was in full loving chaos Saturday as proprietor Scott Harris found time to marvel at how the shop has made it through 20 years. 

Harris’s original vision was to create a resource center for those in need after becoming a single father for a four-year-old and an eight-year-old when his wife died. “I was fortunate that I found those resources, and it afforded us a chance to work through our grief and to heal,” he said. “And a lot of people I’d come across didn’t have knowledge of or access to those resources, and that was a catalyst for the bookstore.

“We wanted to have tangible books to serve underrepresented and underserved individuals, families, and communities,” he said, pointing out a small, simple but very meaningful sticker above the back door. “We wanted to offer a safe haven, and if you look right above our sign, there’s a ‘Z’ for a safe zone, for which we were certified by Child and Family Services.”

The 62-year-old Harris admits he had “a wide-eyed, almost naïve idea” as to what the bookstore would become.

“I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like, and it has morphed into something far different. People in the community would come in and they’d say, ‘Well, how about books if a child has a parent that’s incarcerated?’ Or people would come in looking for books related to other experiences new to me and not on my radar. So, the more people would share with me, the more I thought, here’s another group that’s underrepresented.”

The scene Saturday was a prime example of what Harris has helped to foster. Saved by Zade was there out front, running a can drive fundraiser to help feline overpopulation. In the back of the shop, folks were snacking on vegan treats at a table raising funds for the Immigrant and Refugee Resource Collaborative. 

Others were preparing for an open mic/poetry reading, including Ruelaine Stokes, Lansing’s Poet Laureate from 2024-26.

“The theme of the open mic reading, ‘We were all strangers once,’ is to let everyone know that we’re all brothers and sisters,” Harris said. 

Thriving as part of the same big space, the Triple Goddess Bookstore, owned by Dawn Botke-Coe and Alan Coe, occupies much of the front section of the store. The Creating Heroes Stephen’s Way non-profit comic shop, run by Monica Jahner, makes its home in the back. 

Harris admits the store has never broken even financially. He said that thanks to another full-time job of his, he can run the shop with a small dedicated staff (including manager Diane Krantz and Mike Carlson) and a cadre of volunteers, including Tams Nicholson.

“People bring in wonderful books and wonderful stories,” Harris said. “This is my favorite part. Good people find good people, and the bookstore — we found some really good people.”

One of the people coming to celebrate Harris and the shop was Omar Karim, who sees EVERYbody Reads as a place of community, acceptance and kindness.

“Scott is truly a leader,” Karim said. “He would never define himself as such, but he’s a leader.”