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300 people create a human chain to help an independent bookstore move their entire inventory

300 people. 9,100 books. 2 hours.

@serendipitybooktok/TikTok

A feel god story if there ever was one.

Locals banding together to help a small business owner might sound like the plot of a book sold by Serendipity Books of Chelsea, Michigan…however, this wholesome small town story was not a work of fiction. Just a very real display of human kindness.

Back in January, owner Michelle Tuplin, announced via TikTok that Serendipity would be moving just down the street (“Between the barbecue and the bakery”) to a bigger, more accessible space.

There was only one issue—moving the books. All 9,100 of them.

@serendipitybooktok #chelseamichigan #serendipitybooks #morethanabookstore #indiebookstore #makeadifference #buildcommunity ♬ original sound - Serendipity Books

Sure they could have dealt with movers, boxes, etc., which would have been costly, both in time and money. Or, they could lean upon their community. And that’s exactly what they did.

Serendipity put out the call, and on the big day, a “book brigade” of about 300 people showed up. They formed a pair of lines going from the old location to the new location, and passed each other's books one by one, down the block.

All in all, the entire endeavor took only two hours. And they were able to keep books in alphabetical order, making organization a breeze.

@serendipitybooktok POV: your community shows up 300 strong to help move your ENTIRE BOOKSTORE around the corner to your new location. Today was so beautiful thank you Chelsea!!! 💗📚🤝 #fyp #bookbrigade #michiganbookstore #indiebookstore #booktok #shoplocal #community #serendipitybooks ♬ original sound - Serendipity Books


Tuplin shared with the Guardian that it was more than just a "practical" way to move inventory. It also inspired engagement with one another and instilled a new excitement for reading.

“As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one’.”

This story has quickly grown viral online. After all, it touches on a lot of things that tug on our heartstrings—the charm of small towns, the power of books to bring us together, the magic of strangers coming together to help one another, and just the pure positivity of it all.

“Soooo am I the only one crying or is that normal around here bc this is the nicest and most wholesome thing I’ve ever seen!!”

“I want to live in a town where 300 people do things like show up to move an independent bookstore from one location to another.”

“All news is so depressing right now. Thank you for sharing an uplifting, heartwarming story."

This story perfectly highlights what makes independent bookstores so vital in the first place, in that they foster community, offer a more personal experience, and help cultivate a love of literature in more creative ways than simply shopping online can. Booktok is great, but book culture needs to exist in the real world as well…and not just in our homes either. Like libraries, bookstores offer a third space that brings out the imagination in us all. And whether through our purchases, or by creating a human chain, giving them our support is vital.

Fittingly Serendipity Books won’t technically be open until on April 26, in honor of Independent Bookstore Day. Until then, give them a follow on TikTok and Instagram, and maybe buy a book through their website.

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Kindergartener brings audience to tears with a speech honoring mom who died in a fire

He meant every word of it.

via blackdollarntwk/TikTok

Jaxon Carter's graduation speech

Jaxon Carter is an incredible example of turning tragedy into triumph. The 6-year-old boy lost his mother, Taryn Marie Gainey, in an accidental apartment fire in Harrison Township, Michigan, when he was 5, a few weeks before he started kindergarten.

Even though his life had been turned upside down by tragedy, young Jaxon excelled at his school, New Dawn Academy, a public STEM-focused charter school. He won his class spelling Bee, received honors in nearly all of his subjects and graduating valedictorian of his class.

In June, his teacher asked him to give his class a valedictory address, and he delivered a 4-minute speech from memory that he wrote with his grandma. "When I started kindergarten at New Dawn Academy in August 2022, I was a little 5-year-old who had lost my beautiful mother a month before,” Jaxon said.

@blackdollarntwk

♻️ lG/blackinformationnetwork 6-year-old Jaxon Carter delivered an emotional speech dedicated to his late mom at his graduation ceremony. Jaxon lost his mom, Taryn Marie Gainey, last July in an apartment fire. Jaxon started kindergarten at a new school in Sterling Heights, MI

But he persevered and put all of his efforts into his studies. "I learned to play with other kids, read books, answer or ask questions like how or why, use correct grammar and use my school tablet,” he continued. "My kindergarten year helped me grow braver, smarter, kind-hearted and more grateful."

He ended his speech by paying tribute to his beloved mother. "I dedicate my speech, good grades, all school awards, and my kindergarten graduation to my beautiful mommy, who I will always love and miss so very much. I know she will always be with me in my heart,” Carter said.

He also thanked his grandmother, uncles and dad for their support. "You are the best daddy ever, and I love you so very much," Carter said to rapturous applause.

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Joy

Dramatic footage shows heroic brothers saving a 7-year-old boy from drowning

"I saw him and knew he wasn't okay."

via Genesee County Sheriff's Office

Noah Roche, 12, and his brother, Weston Woods, 8, save Griffin Emerson, 7, from a pool in Michigan.

Shocking footage out of Fenton, Michigan, reminds everyone never to take their eyes off a swimming child—especially one who is using floaties and is not an experienced swimmer.

Griffin Emerson, 7, was swimming in the shallow end of an apartment pool wearing floaties when he decided to remove them and play in the deeper end of the pool. "I just wanted to prove myself. Like, yeah, I can actually swim and stuff," Griffin said, according to Good Morning America.

After struggling to keep his head above water, Griffin sank to the bottom of the pool.

"I saw him, and I just knew that he wasn't OK," Noah Roche, 12, said. "I saw him at the bottom of the pool, and then I didn't know if he was just playing down there or something. So I just told Weston to get in and dive down to see if he's OK."

"His head was going up and down. I knew he wasn't OK," Noah’s brother, Weston Woods, 8, added.

Weston jumped into the pool and pulled Griffin to the surface, but he was unconscious. Griffin’s mother ran over to the boy and began performing CPR. The boy eventually spat up the pool water and regained consciousness. He was taken to the emergency room and released 36 hours later after a full recovery.

The boys were recognized for their heroic efforts at a ceremony attended by Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who gave the boys a packet of books and $100 each for a shopping spree. Swanson also recognized the dispatchers, EMTs, firefighters and deputies who assisted in the rescue.

Griffin’s family was also on hand to congratulate the brave brothers.

"Griffin had a little problem in the swimming pool," Griffin's grandfather said during a Facebook Live video shared by the Genesee County Sheriffs. "And these two young men right here saved him, got him from the bottom of the pool and brought him to the side of the pool. They're my heroes."

Noah's answer was simple when asked why he helped with the rescue. “I just thought it was the right thing,” he said, according to WNEM.

The news out of Michigan comes after a recent rise in warnings about floatie safety. Jim Spiers, co-founder and CEO of SwimJim and president of the nonprofit Stop Drowning Now, told Today.com that floaties "don't always work."

"Kids can slip them off their arms, they can tip over, so it's a huge issue," Spiers continued. "They're an aid — they're not a rescue device, and parents should not look at them as a rescue device or as the babysitter in the pool."

Sheriff Swanson took the occasion as an opportunity to make sure that children are supervised at all times while swimming. “We are in the season of Fourth of July and summer fun and parties, and you can never take your eye off a lake, a pond, a river, a pool a kiddie pool. Assign someone to that water,” Swanson said. “Learn CPR if you don’t know it.”

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Identity

A town defunded its library for having LGBTQ books, so people donated $90K to keep it open

The news of the library’s impending closure inspired a response from people who support the LGBTQ community.

via Patmos Library/Facebook

The Patmos Library in Jamestown Township.

If you don’t like a TV show, change the channel. If you don’t like a song, change the radio station. If you don’t want to read a book, don’t read it. If you don’t want your children to do something, tell them what to avoid.

Makes sense, right? Not to the majority of voters in Jamestown Township in western Michigan. On August 3, they rejected a millage to fund their local library to protest its inclusion of LGBTQ-themed books. A millage is what some municipalities use to calculate property taxes.

The voters rejected the millage by 62% to 37%. The vote gutted the library's operating budget in 2023 by 84%. Larry Walton, the library board president, told Bridge Michigan that without the funding the library will close late next year.

via Patmos Library/Facebook

The library became the center of controversy for carrying “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” in the adult graphic novel section. After protests, it was removed from the shelves and put behind the counter.

A review on publisher Simon and Schuster's website says that the book, written by Maia Kobabe, is “a great resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to better understand."

But conservative activists in Jamestown Township accused the library of indoctrinating local children by having the book on the shelves. There were also complaints about a book called “Spinning” about a teen girl's attraction to other girls and “Kiss Number 8,” a graphic novel with similar LGBTQ themes.

“They are trying to groom our children to believe that it’s OK to have these sinful desires,” Amanda Ensing, a member of the group Jamestown Conservatives, said of library officials, Bridge Michigan reported. “It’s not a political issue, it’s a Biblical issue.”

If you don’t like the library's books, why not tell your kids not to go there? Problem solved.

Did the people who supported closing the library consider the fact that by closing it they weren’t just eliminating access to a few books on LGBTQ issues but countless topics and stories that they may support?

The news of the library’s impending closure inspired a backlash by people who support the LGBTQ community and reading. More than $90,000 has been raised through two GoFundMe campaigns.

Jamestown resident Jesse Dillman has raised $87,000 for the cause through his campaign that has a goal of $200,000, the amount needed to keep the library open for the good part of a year.

via Patmos Library/Facebook

“The Patmos Library in Jamestown is a core part of the community fabric,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page. "I firmly believe most residents here don't share these views and desire to continue funding our local library. Funds raised here will be donated to the Patmos Library so that we can keep it open long enough to consolidate community support for our library millage."

Michelle Barrows has raised nearly $5,000 on her page.

“I was very disheartened that the majority of this community believes in defunding the library because it has books with subjects they don't like or understand,” Barrows wrote on her GoFundMe page. “If you don't like the book, don't check it out! Books don't make people gay. Books DO provide understanding, teach tolerance, and love of differences.”

"I hope you get to your goal, but it is a very very sad day when a public library has to get funded this way due to extreme views of a minority wishing to impose their will on others. Keep on reading!" GoFundMe donor Nancy Stryker wrote.

The people of Jamestown’s decision to punish themselves and their community by shutting down the library over a few books they disagree with is a sad display of irrational political and religious outrage. Banning books has a long history of being connected to oppressive political regimes and is antithetical to living in a society that values freedom of speech.

But it is heartening to see that people from across the world have stood up and donated money to help keep the library alive. Perhaps those who voted to shut it down will hand back their library cards.


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