Spiral Bookcase Celebrates Third Anniversary

Ann Tetreault opened The Spiral Bookcase in Manayunk three years ago, and she hoped it would be like the bookstores she went to with her parents when she was a kid.

“Both of my parents were teachers,” Tetreault said.  “Reading was very important to them.”

Tetreault added, “Wherever we went on vacation, we would go visit the local book store.”

“I love used book stores.  You never know what you’re going to find,” Tetreault said.

Spiral Bookcase follows that same model.  The store covers just a single floor of what used to be a cozy stationary store, but tucked away on each crowded shelf is a book Tetreault considers a gem.

“I like weird books,” Tetreault said.  “Anything we can get about eastern religions or the occult or ghost stories.  Those are my favorites.”

Tetreault also wants to build an enviable collection of fairytales.

“It’s a pet project of mine,” Tetreault said.  “I like fairytales, and we have an interesting collection, but I think it could be bigger.”

Tetreault started off working for the Library of Congress as a copyright specialist before opening the bookstore.

She was commuting from Manayunk to Washington D.C.

“After doing that for awhile, my husband and I decided, ‘Why not open a bookstore?’”

Tetreault added, “In January, 2010, we decided we would give it a shot.”

Tetreault and her husband completely remodeled the space—putting in new floors and carpet, giving it a fresh coat of paint—before having a soft opening the weekend of the Manayunk Arts Festival in 2010.

Tetreault said that she couldn’t have done it without a supportive community and customers.

She also said that she couldn’t have done it without her husband.

“We called it the Spiral Bookcase to represent the two of us,” Tetreault said.

“The spiral represents my husband.  He’s more scientific and analytical.  The Golden Mean is a spiral,” Tetreault said.

“Me, I’m more spiritual, literary, metaphysical,” Tetreault said.  “It’s a combination of the both of us.”

Tetreault added, “It’s also about how we want to bring people together.  You know, a spiral bookcase is enveloping people and ideas.”

The Spiral Bookcase is located at 112 Cotton St. just a block north of Main Street in Manayunk.

On July 31, the Spiral Bookcase will host a reading with short story writers Ben Stroud and Marie-Helene Bertino.  The event will run from 7-9 p.m.