Henniker Book Farm's Lacey Brown on Buying a Bookshop, the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, and Cataloguing

Our Bright Young Booksellers series continues today with Lacey Brown, proprietor of Henniker Book Farm and Gifts in New Hampshire:

How did you get started in rare books?

Well, I think like a lot of people what comes first is your love of books. I started early on loving books; I was a voracious reader and loved the look and the smell of old books. As a child I remember dreaming about owning a bookstore, but never quite being able to figure out how to make that happen. As I grew and life changed I went down the path of a career in business and the high tech industry which I also love, but what I found was that overtime as I climbed that corporate ladder, the stress and the amount of hours I was putting into it was taking away from the things that I loved – the biggest being seeing my girls grow up, but even simple things like having time to read, or go on vacation, etc. were just never a priority.  The work to life ratio was just not balanced, so I began to re-evaluate what was important. 

During that time, I started selling some books from my personal collection online as I was simply running out of space. As this started to pick up, it reminded me of my long lost dream of owning my own bookshop. So, I started to think about how I could make that dream a reality. I looked at a few places where I could start from scratch, but I knew of a local shop that had been closed for a bit due to one of the owners passing away. I reached out to the family to see if they were interested in potentially selling the business. The stars aligned as they were trying to figure out what to do with the shop. They really wanted to keep it running as a bookstore, but they previously had no luck finding anyone interested in running it. 

The intent at first was to continue working at the high-tech job and work at the bookstore nights and weekends, but I quickly found that the local community really wanted the shop to re-open and to make the shop successful and find that better balance of work to life ratio I had to take the leap of faith and dive in headfirst to working full time at the shop. I am thankful that I have an amazing husband and three daughters, who have stood behind me and supported my dream. I love that my girls can see that you can do something you love every day. I cannot say it’s an easy job as there are lots of challenges, but I can say I get to wake up and do something that I love and have time to spend with my husband and girls as they grow up. It has been interesting watching each of my girls find their niche for what they like to do at the shop.

In addition to all of this, I was also blessed with the opportunity to attend 2023’s Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS), as I introduced myself to some of the local booksellers in New Hampshire it was recommended that if they had one thing that they could do over it was to attend this seminar early on in their career. These booksellers were spot on – it really gave me a chance to learn more about the industry, standards, and network with others. To have this knowledge from the start, has really allowed me to establish a solid foundation for the business and I have been able to expand on this.

When did you purchase Henniker Book Farm and what do you specialize in?

I purchased Henniker Book Farm in early 2022. The purchase was not just about selling books, but to keep the “oldest used bookstore in New Hampshire” up and running. It was founded in 1964 by Walter Robinson, a professor from New England College. Right now, we are considered a “generalist” book shop, but we have everything from generally available modern books to rare and collectible ones. We will continue to have a large general selection. That said, I find myself drawn to a few areas on which I will likely specialize in; illustrated books, vintage sci-fi/mystery books, and local history, so I have started to expand on these areas as I am beginning to make my own mark.

What do you love about the book trade?

What I absolutely love about the book trade is the variety of books and ephemera that I get to put my hands on. One day I could be working on cataloging a delicate book from the 1700’s, the next to a letter written by a local woman suffragette that made some real changes happen in New England, onto a vintage children’s book with amazing illustrations, then to a cool vintage sci-fi paperback. Another thing that I treasure in the trade is that I get to meet some extraordinary people, with extraordinary stories and backgrounds that lead me to either help find their next treasure or in turn introduce me to something I have never seen before. I’m constantly learning something new every day. 

Describe a typical day for you:

A typical day for me is getting my kiddos up and to their activities and then making my way to the shop with my bookstore dog, Bandit. Somedays, I’m lucky to have the help of one or two of my girls, and other days I am on my own. I always start the day with getting the shop opened and puttering around to make sure everything is where it should be, etc. Then I download the online orders from the previous night and get those shipped out the door. After that a lot of my day is spent cataloguing recent acquisitions – I try to balance this out as much as possible with the demands of a generalist bookshop and some of the interesting finds that I come across. Then throughout the day I have people popping in and out of the shop. Some wanting help and to chat and others that just want to peruse the shop. In the background of that I’m working on confirming the inventory that came with the shop. Walking into a shop with a large existing inventory takes a while to make your way through all that is there. Once I close up the shop, I go home spend time with the family and then later pop onto the computer to do some of the tasks that I need to wrap up, like marketing or other business activities.

Favorite rare book (or ephemera) that you’ve handled?

Oh boy, when I think about this, the first thing is some of the amazing, illustrated books that I have seen. That said, I’m going to choose something a bit different and that is two-fold. One because there are all sorts of collectors out there and this collection is a bit different. Secondly, because I learned so much from this collection, it has left an imprint on my mind on being creative and turning a negative situation into a good positive one.  

One of my favorite collections that I’ve worked with recently is a Works Progress Administrations collection that I acquired from a collector. Prior to this, I had no idea the breadth of this program and just how much was covered about many different aspects of our culture and history in the United States. The economy in the USA was a disaster back in the 30’s, people were out of work and to help get people back on their feet and to invigorate the economy this program was put in place to give people jobs while taking advantage of their knowledge, skills, talents to document all aspects of the United States and its culture. It covered everything from historic information on buildings, geological, to art, recipes, music, poetry, etc. For me the thought of all sorts of people working together to collaborate and really document what made up United States is spectacular as there is so much diversity in this country to appreciate and learn from.

What do you personally collect?

Right now, my personal collecting is on-hold. I’m sure as my kids grow up and move along that will come back around again. For now, I think about all those books that I would love to keep but bring them to the shop to find someone else who will cherish them as much as I do. This battle to let go is sometimes a tough one, but I also know that I am lucky to enjoy those books for the time that I can and then get them into the hands of the right collector.

What do you like to do outside of work?

In addition to spending time with my family and watching my girls grow up. I really love the outdoors. You will find me hiking with Bandit, kayaking, camping, or just enjoying nature. New Hampshire is a beautiful spot for lots of outdoor activities and with the different seasons there is always something different to do. In addition to that I love to do crafts, garden, and of course read.

Thoughts on the present state and/or future of the rare book trade?

I do think the rare book trade is changing. While I was at the CABs conference it was interesting to see that the 2023 seminar had the largest group of bricks-and-mortar attendees in many years. There is something to be said about that.  There are people out there that want to go to a location and see what is available. Some want to experience the service that comes along to face to face interactions, and some love the thrill of the hunt. I am also finding that collecting is actively morphing into many different forms. In addition to the “typical” rare book collectors, I also have collectors that are collecting more obscure things that are unique to their personal passions. This can be anything from antique car registrations, annual reports of railways, very early trail maps/diaries/books from the mountains, etc. I have enjoyed building relationships with some of these unique collectors and am always thinking about them as I am procuring new inventory – either for their needs directly or from an angle of what other unique items might be of interest to someone. 

Any upcoming fairs or catalogs?

At this time, we do not have any fairs/catalogs coming out as we are focused on going through our existing inventory in the shop categorized the items and getting them on-line. So, please check-out our website at www.hennikerbookfarm.com