By Megan Miller, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – From a dream to a reality, DeDe’s Book Rack has been servicing the downtown Trussville area for more than a year.
Owner Debra McCarley worked for Books a Million for about eight years, fostering her love of books and reading into a career, which has transformed into a dream job.
“Everyone has a dream, and this is my happy place,” McCarley said. “I never thought about used books, I always thought about a new book store, but the opportunity came up a year ago so I decided if I was going to do it, I was going to do it now.”
McCarley said after being raised by entrepreneurs, the process of opening her own business wasn’t overwhelming, but she has been pleasantly surprised by how many people still want to hold a physical book.
“With all of the technology, I thought if kids were going to read they were going to do it on their Kindle or online, but somehow so many people have still wanted to hold a book,” McCarley said.
Although no day is typical, McCarley spends her time reaching out to schools to obtain their reading lists, searching for requests from customers and her favorite part, interacting with customers helping them find their new favorite book, author or genre.
“I have a lot of customers I see every week,” McCarley said. “I ask what they like to read and expand their reading lists. Everyone that comes in has a favorite author or genre, which expands my reading as well as theirs.”
McCarley said patrons get a unique experience at DeDe’s Book Rack because she gets to know her customers, and they get to know her.
“I have a more personal relationship with them,” McCarley said. “You might not get great customer service in a lot of places because they’re so big, and you’re typically in a hurry. The downtown area is more a community, a family.”
DeDe’s Book Rack specializes in used books, mostly of the paperback variety. Patrons get 25 percent of the publisher’s price in the form of store credit. Once they find the books they’d like to take home in place of their traded titles, patrons pay half of whatever they take out.
DeDe’s Book Rack is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The shop is located in the heart of downtown Trussville, at 104 S. Chalkville Road, suite 101.