by Candice Huber, SIBA Membership Coordinator
Treat Yo Shelf Books in Mountain Home, AR opened in January 2023 inside a charming building from the 1930s. The store prioritizes being a welcoming sanctuary for all, more than just a place to buy books. Owner Ashley Watroba said the best part of being a bookseller is, “The people. I absolutely adore seeing faces light up because of something they see in my store. It makes everything worth it.”
One of Watroba’s favorite store events is “Tales & Tails,” where anyone can come to read to adoptable animals, and the adoption fee is lowered with the purchase of a book. The store has gotten at least one animal adopted with each event, and Watroba doesn’t plan to stop until every fur baby has a home. Treat Yo Shelf also partners with a local coffeehouse and brewery to do a monthly Boozy Book Fair with a different theme each time. They also partner with the Baxter County Literacy Foundation.
Watroba loves to handsell The House of Ash and Bone by Joel A. Sutherland. Watroba said, “It was such an amazing and terrifying book to read, and I have to tell everyone about it. Read this book!”
Treat Yo Shelf’s favorite SIBA benefit is our weekly newsletter, from which Watroba learns so much.
You can follow Treat Yo Shelf at @treatyoshelfbooksllc and visit their website at www.treatyoshelfbooks.com.