Written by: Lillian Brumback
Durham, NC - This Sunday Flyleaf Books held a popup stand at Atomic Empire called “Flyleaf’s Cabinet of Curiosities” to sell vintage sci-fi and fantasy books.
Merchandise for sale at Flyleaf's Cabinet of Curiosities. Photograph by Alys Traylor.
Talia Smart, the floor manager of Flyleaf Books who was also running the stand, said that Flyleaf bought about a storage locker’s worth of used sci-fi-fantasy and horror books, most of which were vintage. Flyleaf Books brick and mortar location has a used scifi-fantasy section, but according to Smart the section was too small to accommodate the influx of stock.
Smart said that Flyleaf’s driving question behind the event was, “How can we bring these materials to the people who would want them the most?”
The stand was in the back of Atomic Empire, past the comics and tabletop games, at a small vendor booth across from an ongoing Magic The Gathering tournament that hooted and hollered. The three tables that made up the booth were
littered with more than just books. Flyleaf also featured manga, reading lights, bookmarks, candles, and stickers. Smart
said this was to give customers a better representation and “broader view” of Flyleaf’s store.
Flyleaf Books is an independent bookstore located in Chapel Hill, at 752 M.L.K. Jr Blvd. The store sells used and new books, as well as book-adjacent items. It opened in November, 2009, and has been part of a strong community ever since. While the set up in Durham helped potential new customers learn about the bookstore, with a few asking about the permanent location, there were others there to simply show their support.
Peter Breen, a customer shopping the stand said he “really liked” scifi fantasy, and came out to the event because he wanted to “support Flyleaf”.
When asked how high school students can interact with Flyleaf’s community, Smart said that students were welcome at the all ages sci-fi fantasy book club hosted at Flyleaf once a month called The Book Club at the End of the Universe. Smart also mentioned the Flyleaf Youth Advisory Board, whose staff receive advanced reader copies of yet-to-be-published books in order to make staff reviews, help out at events, and more.