Welcoming shoppers from all around St. Louis, a bookstore sits amongst the shops in Webster. Inside, the shelves are lined with books and merchandise from several authors and art sellers. Holland Saltsman, who founded The Novel Neighbor in 2014, said she established it with the intention of combining art and literature into one bookstore.
“When we first opened, we had an artist in residence who taught a lot of our art classes,” Saltsman said. “[Now, we carry] about 20 local artists in the store. We’ve got over 13 book clubs now, so [there’s] a little something for everyone.”
Rajean Erbar, Children’s Event Coordinator, has been working at The Novel Neighbor since last summer. She had previously been in book clubs at the store, and applied for a job there when she saw that a position was open.
“[The Novel Neighbor is] a really fun environment to work in. Most of our customers are from Webster, and I live right outside [that area], so it feels like [i’m] seeing [my] neighbors all the time.”
Shelby Baseler is the Retail Manager for The Novel Neighbor. Their job includes handling customer service and financial issues. They started working there in September of 2023 as a bookseller.
”My favorite part [of my job] is giving [book] recommendations. When people come up to me and don’t know what to read, I [ask] what [kind of book they] are looking for [and how they] want to feel. When [I] see them get excited [about a book] because [I’m] excited, that’s a blast.”
When The Novel Neighbor first opened, Saltsman was the only employee working there. She said she didn’t have enough money to pay extra staff at the time.
“Now we have many more employees, both full time and part time, who are [working] lots of different positions.” Saltsman said. “We are way bigger than I ever dreamed [of]. I had no idea that we’d be having such a robust online site. People travel [to our shop from other areas] for author events.”
According to their website, The Novel Neighbor has a goal of amplifying marginalized voices. Baseler said that the store carries different demographics in the books they have on the shelves.
“We have some shelves that we do seasonal displays [on],” Baseler said. “For instance, we have a table for Black History Month. The theme for this year is African Americans and labor. All of the titles on that display have something to do with the paid work that African Americans do today, the unpaid work that slaves did, or the emotional work of people in service jobs.”
The Noble Neighbor, created by The Novel Neighbor in 2019, is a nonprofit organization that provides under-resourced schools with books. Saltsman said that fundraising and donations help The Noble Neighbor purchase these books.
“If [The] Noble Neighbor [visits an under- resourced school], then no one has to buy a book. Everybody walks out with a free book that [we have] paid for. It’s a really special opportunity to be able to take a book home if you [don’t] come from a family that has [enough money].”
Baseler said that the best part of working at The Novel Neighbor is getting to be a part of the store’s community. They said that they get to interact with people that have similar interests to them.
“[I love] getting to meet authors and hear them talk about why they wrote.” Baseler said. “When I was a kid, I was a really avid reader, and I know that that part of me is so excited to get to talk about books every day and get to bond with the community that we’ve created.”
