Support Kids Ink Children's Bookstore
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Thank you for supporting Kids Ink Children’s Bookstore. I’m profoundly grateful to have been a part of our community for the past 34 years. When I founded the store, I never imagined how important Kids Ink would become to me and to children, parents, teachers, and librarians across Indiana.
Now it is a difficult time for everyone and I am faced with difficult decisions. My goal years ago was to make quality children’s literature readily available to the children of Indiana. As a teacher and librarian, I knew the importance of children having books in their homes. But I also had a more personal motivation to open Kids Ink.
My youngest son was a non-reader in the second grade. He disliked school so much that in the fall he started hiding in a grove of trees on the walk to school staying there all day. I didn’t know he wasn’t going to school until his older brother told us. That was the winter of the big snowstorm when I was home with our three children, wrapped in blankets because the heat was out. Our son had asked for giraffe and earthworm books at the library and I read them aloud to him. He began looking over my shoulder and finally declared, “I know how words work!” Something had clicked in his brain and from that moment on, he could read. We were so grateful for those books. Today our younger son is an electrical engineer.
A few short years later, Kids Ink was born. At times over the last 34 years, we have had serious downturns that we were able to weather by finding new sales. At times, I have dipped into personal savings to keep the store viable.
However, we’ve never had a challenge as massive as what we are now facing. Our doors have been closed to walk-ins for two weeks. In addition, we have also lost 12 author visits in schools, four school book fairs, and three author signings. I immediately took steps to conserve cash by reducing our store hours.
We are grateful for the phone and on-line orders we receive daily. They are enough to pay our booksellers, utilities and payroll taxes. Nothing is left for other expenses like cost of goods, rent, etc. Fortunately, publishers have been very kind and offered us extended payment terms but they will still need to be paid eventually.
Funds raised in this campaign will allow Kids Ink to re-open when the crisis ends. When this is over, there will again be birthday parties and an economy that can support small businesses.
Kids Ink has been an integral part of the community for 34 years. We have hosted over 300 authors in the store and supplied books for many more in schools. Countless children have attended our story times as well as free summer activities. Numerous festivities have occurred at the store, including Independent Bookstore Day, Children’s Book Week, holiday open houses, wedding proposals and even one wedding. We made a commitment to selling diverse books long before it was a hashtag, stocking thousands of titles that reflect and magnify the wonderful variety of people living in our community. Scores of booksellers worked at Kids Ink during their college years and have gone on to become teachers, librarians, community workers, one author, and even one neurologist. But more importantly, our current staff is a wonderful, talented group of hard-working booksellers. Some of them have given more than twenty years of their lives to Kids Ink. They’ve made a career out of helping children find the books that engage their imagination and help them grow as readers.
Many of our customers have also been extraordinarily loyal and supportive. Some of the children who came to the store in the early years have started bringing their own children to Kids Ink.
Even with the doors closed, we are continuing to provide books to our community and for many parents who are guiding their students in schooling at home. We hope they can have moments of joy with good books. If you’re shopping for books for children or adults, please consider ordering from Kids Ink. We’re offering free delivery within 10 miles of the store during the emergency.
If you can give any amount, we are truly grateful. Even if you can’t give, you can support the store in other ways, by spreading this campaign in social media or by ordering from us.
Thank you for supporting us all these years and thank you in advance for helping to ensure that there will be many more years of Kids Ink, your local independent bookstore
Shirley Mullin
Now it is a difficult time for everyone and I am faced with difficult decisions. My goal years ago was to make quality children’s literature readily available to the children of Indiana. As a teacher and librarian, I knew the importance of children having books in their homes. But I also had a more personal motivation to open Kids Ink.
My youngest son was a non-reader in the second grade. He disliked school so much that in the fall he started hiding in a grove of trees on the walk to school staying there all day. I didn’t know he wasn’t going to school until his older brother told us. That was the winter of the big snowstorm when I was home with our three children, wrapped in blankets because the heat was out. Our son had asked for giraffe and earthworm books at the library and I read them aloud to him. He began looking over my shoulder and finally declared, “I know how words work!” Something had clicked in his brain and from that moment on, he could read. We were so grateful for those books. Today our younger son is an electrical engineer.
A few short years later, Kids Ink was born. At times over the last 34 years, we have had serious downturns that we were able to weather by finding new sales. At times, I have dipped into personal savings to keep the store viable.
However, we’ve never had a challenge as massive as what we are now facing. Our doors have been closed to walk-ins for two weeks. In addition, we have also lost 12 author visits in schools, four school book fairs, and three author signings. I immediately took steps to conserve cash by reducing our store hours.
We are grateful for the phone and on-line orders we receive daily. They are enough to pay our booksellers, utilities and payroll taxes. Nothing is left for other expenses like cost of goods, rent, etc. Fortunately, publishers have been very kind and offered us extended payment terms but they will still need to be paid eventually.
Funds raised in this campaign will allow Kids Ink to re-open when the crisis ends. When this is over, there will again be birthday parties and an economy that can support small businesses.
Kids Ink has been an integral part of the community for 34 years. We have hosted over 300 authors in the store and supplied books for many more in schools. Countless children have attended our story times as well as free summer activities. Numerous festivities have occurred at the store, including Independent Bookstore Day, Children’s Book Week, holiday open houses, wedding proposals and even one wedding. We made a commitment to selling diverse books long before it was a hashtag, stocking thousands of titles that reflect and magnify the wonderful variety of people living in our community. Scores of booksellers worked at Kids Ink during their college years and have gone on to become teachers, librarians, community workers, one author, and even one neurologist. But more importantly, our current staff is a wonderful, talented group of hard-working booksellers. Some of them have given more than twenty years of their lives to Kids Ink. They’ve made a career out of helping children find the books that engage their imagination and help them grow as readers.
Many of our customers have also been extraordinarily loyal and supportive. Some of the children who came to the store in the early years have started bringing their own children to Kids Ink.
Even with the doors closed, we are continuing to provide books to our community and for many parents who are guiding their students in schooling at home. We hope they can have moments of joy with good books. If you’re shopping for books for children or adults, please consider ordering from Kids Ink. We’re offering free delivery within 10 miles of the store during the emergency.
If you can give any amount, we are truly grateful. Even if you can’t give, you can support the store in other ways, by spreading this campaign in social media or by ordering from us.
Thank you for supporting us all these years and thank you in advance for helping to ensure that there will be many more years of Kids Ink, your local independent bookstore
Shirley Mullin
Organizer
Shirley Mullin
Organizer
Indianapolis, IN