Written by Kayla Curry, photos by Greta Cross

Nestled amongst the other cozy homes lining historic Walnut Street, Pagination Bookshop serves as a warm and welcoming space for book lovers of all kinds. Visitors of the indie bookstore are invited to experience what co-owner and MSU English professor Jennifer Murvin calls the “magic of the browse” by exploring the shelves of carefully curated stories inside the historic home. 

Upon entering the house turned bookstore, visitors are met with a Harry Potter themed crawl space beneath the staircase to their left, a children’s book room to their right, and straight ahead is the main room fit with floor to ceiling bookshelves and a comfy couch. It looks more like a book lover’s home than a business, and that is exactly what owners Jennifer Murvin and Kory Cooper hope visitors feel. 

“If you walked into my own house, it looks a lot like the shop,” Murvin said. “That’s just what makes me feel happy and good—books and plants and thrifted, fun boho themed furniture and really homey touches that make you feel like you’re at home when you walk in.”

Murvin, a full time professor at MSU, has been an avid reader her entire life. She shares her love of indie bookstores with her partner Kory Cooper. The pair noticed Springfield lacked independent bookshops and decided historic downtown would be a perfect space to open one of their own. After much research and real estate shopping, the couple found a space and opened up to the public in spring 2019. Not only were they navigating becoming first time business owners, but they were also opening amidst a global pandemic. 

Springfield’s thriving small business community supported them throughout the learning process. This opened Murvin’s eyes to the importance of supporting local businesses. 

“Other small business owners have been so supportive of us. Anytime I had a question I could ask and people would help me. Everywhere I turned it was just support,” Murvin said. “When the pandemic hit and we started hosting virtual author events it was really exciting to see orders starting to come in. 

“We have regular customers from Oregon and Texas and the east coast. It's been a real gift to see that happening, and really exciting to see people come out and support. I think Springfield is a unique town in that we do have a lot of locally owned businesses, so it's really important to me we are aware and don’t take that for granted.”

Another challenge of being an indie bookstore owner is building an inventory. In order to satisfy a wide variety of tastes, the owners of Pagination observed their community and patiently and carefully curated an inventory that satisfies a number of tastes. For example, over the course of being open, the employees noticed a big demand for sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative fiction, so Murvin and Cooper dedicated an entire room for books of those genres. 

“Of course, the one thing a bookstore reminds you of is there are just so many books in the world, and it is really hard to curate for our tiny shop,” Murvin said. “Part of me wishes we had a big giant warehouse space, but we do have to keep it very carefully curated. So, you know when you walk into our shop those books are handpicked by us.”

Being a full time professor and a local business owner has been a learning experience for the couple, but it has also motivated them, Murvin said. 

“The wonderful thing about being an indie bookseller is there are always new and exciting books to share and to find and to read and to talk about, so it's constantly evolving,” Murvin said. “I feel that way about my teaching too. It’s the same kind of exciting, ever evolving learning process. It keeps me energized.”

Murvin gets help from her partner as well as a small team of employees who help run the day to day operations. She hired one of her former master’s students, Shane Page, who she refers to as the “master bookseller.

“It’s been great to not be alone in the leadership,” Murvin said. “We are a team.”

When Murvin feels burnt out, she looks back at the events the store has hosted. Recently, two musicians from Missouri State performed a special composition of a classic children’s book in the backyard of the store.

“There were twinkly lights, a little girl from the neighborhood was holding the book, and we had a fire pit going, and we were eating cookies, and it was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is exactly why I did this,’” Murvin said. “It’s moments like that that keep you going.”

This sense of welcome and community permeates everything the owners and employees of Pagination do at the shop. Other than being a bookstore, it is a space for building community. From hosting a workshop for Me Too Springfield, to hosting a roundtable discussion on homeless youth in the community, to offering the shop as a space for taking donations for Connecting Ground, to hosting a Transgender Day of Remembrance Open Mic, Murvin wants her values to be clear as soon as you walk in.

“When children walk into our children’s book room, I want them to see stories about people who look like them, people who have families like their families, and I want our shop to be a place of inclusivity and support,” Murvin said. “To me, literature is the way we engage in empathy. It's the way we explore aspects of our humanity. It’s the way we begin work in self-reflection and growth. For me, reading and literature has always been ground zero for that kind of work.”

Murvin hopes customers who have not been by the bookstore yet stop in to experience it themselves. To Murvin, visiting the shop is about more than finding a good book. It is an experience you cannot get from buying online.

“You miss the ‘magic of the browse’— running your hand over a spine, or seeing a front face book, or listening to someone talk to their friend about a book they love and then wandering over to it. You’re with your people, and that feels really good. It’s a magical thing.”