The shop owner behind Viral ‘Book Brigade’ reveals security plan (exclusive)

• Michelle Tupin’s independent bookstore, Serendipity Books, signed a new lease just along the way from its original location – but she still had to move more than 9,000 books.
• People immediately began to reach out and asked how they could help with the move and inspired the now-Viral “Book Brigade.”
• In an interview with People, Tuplin reveals what her security plan was.

After Michelle Tuplin announced that her independent bookstore, Serendipity books In Chelsea, Michigan, had signed a new lease just along the road in January, people immediately began to reach out and asked how they could help with the move.

Tuplin, who has owned the store since 2017, knew she wanted to say yes to everyone. She says that people really think of independent bookstores as part of society – they feel a sense of ownership. So she started brainstorm how to include everyone. That’s when the idea met her: a book brigade.

“I thought it would be a really inclusive way that would be both quick and efficient to move books and keep them in order, but also to be able to involve anyone who wants to be part of this thing,” says the 53-year-old shop owner exclusively.

After signing the new lease, Tuplin floated the idea to some customers. With their encouragement and support from her team of three part-time books, she determined to go for it. They printed leaflets, published them around the city, shared the message on social media and included it in their newsletter. They told customers at the counter – and then crossed their fingers.

The plan if no one appeared? “We didn’t really have one, even though it rained,” Tuplin laughs. “There were a few people who could not be named, who definitely thought it was a little crazy for … We didn’t have a notification. We had no idea. So we really had to trust that feeling that we had enough community support and go with it and see what happened.”

But thankfully everything gathered – serendipithous.

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On the day of the book brigade, Tuplin asked people to show up around 13.00 some early birds arrived to help the team be sorted and ready. Then, around 12:40, people began to seep in. They did not have an agenda in place for how to organize the volunteers, so they improvised. They told people to form a line and start sending books.

“Then I came out of the store to see how far the line was, and it was just so overwhelming,” says Tuplin. “It went all the way down the corner and it was fantastic. And then everyone was so excited and so happy, and they cheered and patted. And of course I tried really hard not to cry – and failed horrible.”

“When I came down the stairs at first, I saw my son’s second-class teacher, who taught him-I don’t know-for 17 years ago. And she gave me a big hug, and it was a surprise. I didn’t expect to see her. And she was the person who made me burst into tears, actually, at that point … Happy everyone was and how enthusiastic they were to be to the person who made me.

By then, the line had grown to more than 300 people, aged from 5 or 6 years old to 91. Together, for two hours, they moved all 9,100 books from the store’s old place to their new, larger store.

To thank volunteers, Serendipity offered lemonade and cookies. After the last book passed on the line, everyone gathered in the new store to celebrate together.

“I knew 60% of the people probably,” says Tuplin. “The others – cars came through the city, people stopped and got out of their car to help. It happened. So we didn’t know everyone, but we knew many people. And people in the line – if they didn’t know the person next to them, they did in the end. They made friends, they talked books, they sang together and had a fantastic time.”

“People talk about how important independent bookstores are and what a central role they play in society, but we could actually see it that day. And it was just unforgettable,” she adds.

Not long after the brigade, Kaci, one of the store’s bookstores, published a video of the event at Tiktok. Since then, the clip has become viral, collected over 1.6 million views and more than 5,500 comments. For Tuplin, it is still difficult to wrap her head around that number.

“There were comments from Australia, Japan, Spain – and people just want to read happy stories right now and find, I guess, stories where humanity is seen,” she says. “There were a number of people saying,“ Thanks for doing this. We really needed this right now. “It was a big one. It was good.”

The feeling of joy has continued during the days ago. Since this was developed, Tuplin has seen people on the street, gone to yoga or visited the cafe and have showered with lots of hugs and thanks.

“The whole city right now is just so buzzing, because it’s not just with the story to get viral – it’s no longer just a story about the bookstore,” she adds. “It is also a story about our city. And so everyone is just so happy to be part of this thing. And I think that thanks and gratitude will continue for a very long time.”

Now that the move is complete, Tuplin and her team are working hard to get the new space unpacked and ready. The store is currently closed and opens again at its new location on April 26, which is also an independent bookstore. However, the site is still open to taking orders.

“I think it will only be such a good space. It will only be wonderful. And I just think we will go from strength to strength. I hope we get more writers who visit and can do more events – just more of the same … We will never lose that community connection. We will always know our customers’ names.”