Jan 29, 2025 -- by Ana Williams-Bergen (North Country at Work Coordinator) , in Glens Falls, NY
Hillary Smith is the owner of Black Walnut Books, a tiny independent bookshop in Glens Falls. She's worked at bookstores for a long time, but this is the first one she's owned. She says she's part of a renaissance of independent bookstores.
"I started in the book industry right after Amazon started, in the middle of a recession. It was not a great time for books, and tons and tons of mom-and-pop shops closed all over the country."
These days, Smith says there are "more bookstores than there have ever been. And tons of little indie, specialty bookstores are opening up all the time."
The idea of her bookstore started when Smith was living in California. Between COVID-19 and some bad wildfires, she had a bit of time off to think about what she wanted to do, and where she wanted to be.
Her partner is from this area, and they wanted somewhere that "wasn't on fire." Smith wanted to focus on books by underheard voices: queer and Indigenous folks and authors of color.
"I started it as a bookstagram account on Instagram before I moved so that people could get kind of hear my recommendations and get a feel for what I like to read," she said.
Once Smith got to Glens Falls, she started doing pop-up sales. One of those pop-ups was at the Shirt Factory in Glens Falls, an old industrial space filled with small businesses and artist studios.
"I mentioned to the owner of the building that if he ever, down the road, had a space opening up I would love it," she remembers. "And he was like, 'Actually, I do.' So within a month, I had a space and I got to make it my own."
The bookstore is only about 300 square feet, but it's packed with books, plants, and stickers.
Smith relishes finding the perfect book for each customer. She says getting to connect with a fellow reader is why a lot of people still rely on independent bookstores.
"My favorite thing is when I have repeat customers and they say, 'Okay, this one was perfect. And this is what I didn't like about that one.' So we can really nail it down and get the perfect book for them."
Smith says bookstores are the heart of a community. She tries to have as many book clubs and social events as she can.
"It's just a safe space to go and see other people who are like you, voices that are like yours or totally different than yours. And you can grow and change and see so many different worlds."
A big part of that for Smith is reading "own voices," books that are written by the people they're about. Nearly every book in her store was written by an author of color, Indigenous or queer person.
Smith says that when she started paying attention to which authors she read, her reading "got so much better."
"You can find these gems and these really unique voices that just haven't been published as much."
Working with small publishers is a huge part of what Smith does. She loves introducing people to books they've never heard of before, stories that wouldn't make the front shelf at a mainstream bookstore.
Smith says she has relationships with many publishers who keep her in mind because they know her niche. "They'll think, 'We have a new Indigenous author, I should tell Hillary about it.'"
Opening Black Walnut Books went even better than Smith expected. Just a year later in March of 2024, she opened Little Black Walnut Books down the hall in the Shirt Factory. It's the same idea, just with books for kids.
Smith says it's been surreal "to hear the feedback from queer people who have grown up here and can't believe that this exists in their hometown. And from young people who are getting to grow up with this."
Smith is building the kind of space she wishes she had as a child. "As a queer Indigenous person, getting to see myself or other queer, Indigenous people is so meaningful. I have literally cried reading those books because it's just not something that you get to see all the time."
"I think that if I had seen myself in books when I was younger, that would have led me to be happier earlier."
Smith says she wasn't sure what to expect opening a business that was so openly queer. But she's felt welcomed and safe.
"Everyone has been so lovely," Smith says. "Even people who don't know the right words or how to do pronouns and everything, they come in and they're wanting to learn and grow."
It's been a heartwarming experience. "Even if [some customers] don't necessarily agree with me on everything, they're still kind, which I appreciate."
If you're looking for your next read, Smith recommends Broken Blade by Melissa Blair or This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Major support for North Country at Work comes from the Cloudsplitter Foundation and the Prospect Hill Foundation.