VERO BEACH — As progress continues to consolidate the two buildings that make up the Vero Beach Book Center, story time has again returned.
Now upstairs overlooking what will become the adult section of the store below, more than three dozen children danced and sang and read along with Miss Julie – a first in two weeks.
“It’s going to be a new adventure,” said Karl Wickel, who brought along his wife, Gina, and their children, Spurgeon, 6, Karl, 3, and Gabrielle, 14 months.
Gina Wickel said she was still taking in the new layout, traipsing up the stairs with the kids in tow to get to the children’s section.
“It’s a big change,” she said.
Karl said his family has come to the Vero Beach Book Center on a regular basis so this is an adjustment.
“I don’t know,” he said when asked how he felt about the consolidation.
Though he said he’d keep an open mind, he voiced some misgivings that the store might be too consolidated.
Last month, the owners of the Vero Beach Book Center – the Leonard family – decided it was time to downsize their store and move the adult section into the building housing the children’s center.
The move shrinks the store from 20,000 total square feet to 12,500 square feet.
Chad Leonard said in May that competition from internet sales and e-books haven’t helped the store’s volume though there is still a market for physical books.
“I’m excited,” said Julie Dossantos as she prepared for the first story time since moving upstairs. “It feels like home.”
The beloved stage that served as the backdrop for so many story times continues to do so.
Its face and curtains hangs on the wall behind where Miss Julie sets up. The hand-painted roof to the stage will be repurposed elsewhere in the children’s section.
“We’re trying to preserve as much as we can,” said Vero Beach Book Center employee Susann Pezzetti.
The autographed columns on the ground floor will remain untouched as will the illustrators’ artwork on the walls. Other areas, though, will get a fresh coat of paint.
Before the story hour got started, numerous children dragged their parents and grandparents around to the different nooks, searching for their beloved toys and books and puzzles they used to immediately run to upon arrival.
“It’s like a new store again,” Dossantos said, explaining she’d already helped several kids find what they were seeking.
Recent barrier island resident Janet Arnold said her kids were having fun exploring the second floor.
“We never made it upstairs before,” the former Alaska resident said. “I think it’ll be fun.”
Konrad, 4, and his sister, 6-year-old Reid, sat front and center for the story time and were actively engaged in the songs and dances between books.
“He asks every day” if it’s story time, Arnold said of Konrad. The weekly event gives him something to look forward to.
Fellow mom Anabella Brandes brought her 4 1/2-month-old Nicholas to the story hour for two reasons – introduce him to the world of reading and to get herself out of the house.
“I really liked it,” she said of the story time on the second floor. “I’m definitely coming back.”
Brandes has shopped at the Vero Beach Book Center before and said she likes the consolidation – now she can go into just one building to do her book shopping, instead of going into two separate buildings.
With a baby in tow, “it’s more convenient,” she said.
Not everyone is sold on having the grown-ups and the children under one roof.
Frequent Vero Beach Book Center visitor and shopper Mary Lou Shelton said she’s not quite sure about the change.
“I like it quiet,” she said as she flipped the pages of a home décor book.
The second floor’s construction is nearly complete. A few slat walls and some trim work are all that is left to do.
The ground floor, however, still has much to be done – rows of shelving need to be organized, bookcases placed in their proper spots and books shelved where they need to be, along with painting.
“I’m shocked how fast these guys are working,” Pezzetti said of the workers tasked with getting the store in order.
Construction was expected to continue until early summer, but it appears most everything will be complete ahead of schedule. The next story time will be held Friday evening at 6 as a “pajama hour” with dad in honor of Father’s Day. Children are encouraged to attend wearing their pajamas.
