René Rodgers and Sara Beth Hitt unpack books for their new book bar. (photo by David Grace)
Dragonfly Book Bar opens in the spring in downtown Bristol, Virginia, between Southern Churn and Cranberry Lane. It is owned by childhood friends Sara Beth Hitt and René Rodgers. Their book store has a twist — they’ll also serve wine.
They became fast friends at the age of 3 or 4, when they met at church. They remained friends while they were at school; stayed friends when Hitt moved to Marion; and then reunited when they were in middle and high school in Bristol, Virginia. They’ve stayed friends since. Rodgers is godmother to Hitt’s daughter.
“We are both from Bristol and moved away after high school for college and career reasons. We moved back here in our 40s after several years away and quickly became active in our downtown community.” Rodgers worked for Believe in Bristol when she first moved home and has stayed active with Believe in Bristol after moving on to her role at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in 2014. Hitt has volunteered and been on the board of Believe in Bristol ever since she moved back to Bristol, and she volunteers for the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Green Team and is BRRR Festival Chair and on the BCM board.
“We first started talking about opening a bookstore during the pandemic when we walked our dogs together. We’ve both always loved books and reading, and elements of our careers have revolved around literacy.” Hitt is a former K-12 special educator and college professor and currently serves as the director of ETSU’s America Reads Challenge Program; Rodgers lived for several years in England where she worked as a publishing project manager for a heritage organization, and she still freelance edits and proofreads. “Most importantly, Bristol is our hometown, and being part of the community is really important to us. Plus, we wanted to create the kind of place we would like to hang out,” Rodgers says.
“In addition, we love the vibe downtown and thought a bookstore/wine bar would be a great addition to all the cool and funky businesses downtown. We hope to fill a void with Dragonfly,” Rodgers says.
They both enjoy books and nice wine and feel they go well together.
“They provide a comforting pairing, providing a nice way to relax. However, we want to provide that experience for everyone who walks through Dragonfly’s doors, so we’ll also include non-alcoholic beverage options. Our patrons will be able to order a beverage to enjoy while they read or browse for books and gifts in a unique and cozy atmosphere.
“We want to create a cool vibe where you feel like you can relax and enjoy yourself, either on your own or with friends. We also hope that folks will look to Dragonfly Book Bar as a place to find community, meet other like-minded people, and enjoy interesting programs and events,” they say.
In addition to taking a book home, they are planning to sell champagne, wine and cider to go home with the books.
“We will be selling used and new books; at first, this will probably be a 70/30% split between the two. With the used books, we will have books from all genres — including mystery, thrillers, horror, science fiction, fantasy, romance, contemporary and literary fiction, poetry, history, memoirs and biography, natural history, cookery, gardening, crafts and hobbies and more. We will carefully curate the new books to focus on recent bestsellers and Appalachian and Southern writers and stories,” they say.
They are working on a variety of programs and activities to host as they get their feet under them at Dragonfly. They include author talks and book signings, book clubs, wine and book pairings, tea/coffee and book pairings, Blind Date with a Book, birthday parties, acoustic performances, puzzle and games nights, crafting and journaling workshops, etc. They will also have space where book clubs and other groups can meet or hold an event.
Their hope is that patrons will have a good experience and want to return.
“We’d love for our store to be a regular hang-out spot. We also want folks to walk away with a new book or author to explore and to find like-minded people who love books as much as they do — a place to feel excitement about reading and sharing books. We want Dragonfly to provide our patrons with a sense of community and make them feel welcome and like they belong when they are with us. It can be a place to decompress and relax,” they say.
The store will also offer gifts — book-related items like bookmarks, journals, book-themed décor or knickknacks; cards; puzzles; branded merchandise; food and drink items; and more.
Before the store opens, people can support them via https://bookshop.org/shop/DragonflyBookBar (for new books, including e-books) and https://libro.fm/dragonflybookbar (for audiobooks). If you go onto these platforms and set Dragonfly Book Bar as the store you want to support, they will get a percentage of any purchases made.
“These are both great companies that are working hard to support independent bookselling. Shopping local and shopping small is the way to go,” Rodgers says.
They can be followed on Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s been wonderful to see the excitement and enthusiasm for a downtown bookstore on both platforms, and we are so grateful to all of the folks who have been supporting us in a variety of ways and cheering us on,” they say.
