Book RePort opens in Port Washington
Kathleen Schechter and Mara Silverstein at Book RePort in Port Washington. Credit: Michael Schechter
Book RePort launches a new chapter in entrepreneurship in Port Washington.
Officially open since early June, the independent book store and community gathering space is a collaborative venture of Mara Silverstein, 56, and Kathleen Schechter, 48. The co-owners launched it to fill a void left in 2022, when the beloved Dolphin Books closed after 76 years.
“It sort of felt like a crisis,” Silverstein says. “A lot of people were upset. They felt like a town isn’t a town unless it has a bookstore.”
That includes these two former teachers and married moms who both have three daughters. Active in the community, they met at a gathering convened to focus on how to bring back a bookstore. They clicked.
“We felt very connected to one another and to the idea that Port Washington deserves a space where people of all ages can read, can gather and have dialogue,” Schecter says. “That was very, very important to us. We thought about mission and vision.”
They got busy doing research, going on field trips to other bookstores and libraries and conducting market research. “We had many pop-ups to gather information,” Schechter says. “Mara and I were trying to really figure out and listen to our community.”
Located at 40 Main St., the 1,500-square-foot space is designed to be a retail bookstore and a community hub. Books on shelves are for all ages, and the same goes for the shop’s regular programming – such as author events, book clubs and story time sessions.
A small cafe will sell coffee and tea, gifts and games. “It’s a place where to sit and play games and just talk and listen to one another,” Silverstein says.
The business partners are still all ears when it comes to what their town wants and needs. They’ve introduced Book RePorters, a program for students in grades 3 and up to help shape the books the store carries. “We’ve had 26 kids sign up before we opened our door,” Schecter says. “We’re excited.”
A mural in one room shows a woman lighting her path with an open book that beams like a lantern. Books lead us to new places. Just ask Silverstein and Schechter.
Book RePort, 40 Main St., Port Washington, 516-898-7974, bookreportny.com
