Stacie Boston
Cherokee Phoenix
TAHLEQUAH – What started as a love for books for husband and wife Tom Jefferson and Valerie Reese has helped not only spotlight Cherokee authors but get more books into the hands of locals.
While they are not Cherokee, Jefferson and Reese opened Too Fond of Books in the heart of Cherokee Nation’s capital city of Tahlequah in 2021.
“She grew up here, and I’m from Fayetteville (Arkansas). We really wanted to bring one (a book store) here, and we really thought it was something we could do for a long time,” Jefferson said.
Through the book store, Jefferson said they have applied for a grant to establish Joe’s Bookcase with the goal of getting more books into the hands of youth. Joe is Reese’s grandfather.
“When her dad and his brother became teenagers, their parents bought them a set of “World Book” (s) … and he built a real nice bookcase for them,” Jefferson said. “We’ve found local folks who can make replica bookcases. The funding will be a little tricky, but we’ve got enough money in the grant for this year that we can … put age-appropriate books in. We’re going to … get these into the community.”
He added while looking into the logistics of the bookcase, he and Reese came across the concept of “book deserts,” something Jefferson believed was affecting the area.
According to unitebooks.com, a book desert is typically an area where there is “lack of access to an abundance of relevant and engaging books in the home.” The website highlights that through a research study spanning over 20 years and 27 countries, “the very best predictor of school success was the number of books in the home.” The study suggests the optimal number is 100 books.
“That really got our attention and the second thing that did was that Cherokee and Adair county and northeast Oklahoma are kind of like a nationally known book desert and that was shocking,” he said.
According to the map, the Cherokee Nation Reservation falls within each category ranging from “Most Likely” to “Least Likely” to have over 100 books in the home.
“The book desert really is an issue. It’s hard here. People working their butts off to make a living and books are kind of low down on the profile sometimes,” Jefferson said. “So, we’re really hoping to help families by doing this, so that’s where Joe’s Bookcase came from, and we’re anxious for it to work out.”
Aside from Joe’s Bookcase, Jefferson said that Too Fond of Books Manager Daniel Tye is working with the local partners to host book fairs at local schools with the goal of providing one free book for every student.
“I think it’s important for a student to go into a book fair and look around and there’s not a cost on the book that they want,” Tye said. “I just feel like if they’re able to pick out that book they’re more likely to read that book and then maybe they fall in love with reading.”
By the end of the semester, Tye said the goal is to provide books at six schools with the goal of increasing that number each year if funding permits.
“We’re doing one at Dahlonegah Public School. Before that we’ve done one at Bell Public School and Cave Springs Public School and all of those schools have over 95 percent JOM (Johnson-O’Malley Program) students, so predominately Native students,” Tye said. “The UKB helps us a lot with the book fairs. They actually cover 50 percent of the costs for those books that we are giving away to the students.”
Another way that Too Fond of Books is helping propel more readers is by highlighting authors with a number of them being Cherokee. The shop has showcased readings from Cherokee Nation citizens Oscar Hokeah (“Calling for a Blanket Dance”), Andrea L. Rogers (“Man Made Monsters”) and Brad Wagnon (“The First Fire: A Cherokee Story”).
“We host Native authors as often (as we) can and it comes easy in this area because of how many people are Native,” Tye said. “We have a lot of Native books and it just kind of comes naturally into what we curate here. It seems like there’s a lot of interest.”
Tye said one of the stores most sold books is “Mankiller Poems: The Lost Poetry of the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.” He added that the store had the opportunity to partner with the Cherokee Nation to sell the book at the Wilma Mankiller Quarter Release event in 2022.
As for new endeavors, the team opened a used book store called Still Fond and More in late 2023. While used books are offered, Tye said the store also sells board games and card games.
“We have some plans to develop game nights for people who want to play Magic (“Magic: The Gathering”) tournaments or play D&D (“Dungeons & Dragons”) with their friends,” he said.
Too Fond of Books is located at 162 N. Muskogee Avenue and Still Fond and More is located at 507 College Ct. in Tahlequah.
For information on either store or Joe’s Bookcase, call 918-570-6300.
