Around Indies

UConn Co-op to Add a Bookstore

The UConn Co-op is adding an anchor store to the area’s new Storrs Center project, a mixed-use town center located near the university. Co-op officials recently announced plans to open a full-service bookstore in the area, complete with a children’s bookstore and a cafe, reported Mansfield Today.

The bookstore will fit with the overall theme of the project, which is to create a “vibrant Main Street community,” said Bill Simpson, president and chief operating officer of the Co-op.

“The UConn Co-op is very enthusiastic to become a part of the Storrs Center project,” he said. “We plan on developing an exciting new store that serves both as a destination store at Storrs Center and an expansion of the retail service we already offer the university and the general community.”

RJ Julia’s Owner Brings Authors to the Stage

On Monday, July 21, Roxanne Coady, co-owner of RJ Julia’s Booksellers, in Madison, Connecticut, is partnering with Greg Nobile of Greg Nobile Presents, to offer a live author interview at The Kate, a local theater, to benefit Read to Grow. With this new series of author interviews, Coady aims to bring her conversations with authors out of the bookstore, and onto the stage for more people to enjoy.

“It’s good for the vitality of the community, good for economic development, and it’s fun,” she told Madison Patch. “Getting these authors is good for everyone. It’s good because more people should read.”

Oxford’s Howorth Has a New Title

On Thursday, June 30, Richard Howorth, owner of Square Books, in Oxford, Mississippi, was sworn in as Board member of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. Government that provides electricity for utility and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Howorth was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate for a term ending May 18, 2015.

“I am honored to have been nominated to this post by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate,” said Howorth. “As one who has had a lifelong interest and stake in the progress of the region, I know that TVA is a vitally important entity, and I look forward to working with the TVA board.”

Richard Howorth is a former mayor of Oxford, Mississippi, and a past president of the American Booksellers Association.