Vision Night for the New Lioness Books Brick and Mortar

Ainsley Shaw • June 6, 2025

Photos by: John Miller

Bookstores belong to the community. Lioness Books embraces this philosophy and is opening a new independent bookstore! We recently opened the doors of our new brick and mortar for a Vision Night to gather feedback from local authors, artists, community leaders, and key stakeholders about what people want to see in their local bookstore.

The idea for the night was to give people the chance to walk through the store before it is renovated, gather ideas and hopes for what the store can become, and foster connection and collaboration between local authors, artists, businesses, and creatives.

Photos by: John Miller

We started curating the event by placing ten open-ended questions on the walls around the store and giving everyone a pen and sticky-notes to answer them. The questions guided everyone clockwise around the space beginning with refreshments and ending with writing Vision Postcards to the Future. The postcards contained the question: “What do you hope this bookstore becomes for the community?” and will be displayed in the brick and mortar when we open.

Wooden table with artwork, flowers, and books. Items include a lion painting, basket, and small plants.

Here are the ten questions we displayed at Vision Night:

What kind of atmosphere would make you want to spend time in a bookstore?
What genres or categories do you feel are underrepresented in local bookstores?
What kinds of events would you be excited to attend here (author readings, bookclubs, workshops, etc.)?
What types of non-book items would you be excited to find in the store?
What kinds of family or children’s events would be meaningful to your household or community?
How could a bookstore partner with a local business like yours?
Who in your network might be a great fit for partnering with us on future events?
How could our space support your daily life or work needs?
What local causes or nonprofits do you feel a bookstore like ours should support or collaborate with?
Is there anything else you wish a bookstore would do that you’ve never seen before?

Here are the ten questions we displayed at Vision Night:

What kind of atmosphere would make you want to spend time in a bookstore?
What genres or categories do you feel are underrepresented in local bookstores?
What kinds of events would you be excited to attend here (author readings, bookclubs, workshops, etc.)?
What types of non-book items would you be excited to find in the store?
What kinds of family or children’s events would be meaningful to your household or community?
How could a bookstore partner with a local business like yours?
Who in your network might be a great fit for partnering with us on future events?
How could our space support your daily life or work needs?
What local causes or nonprofits do you feel a bookstore like ours should support or collaborate with?
Is there anything else you wish a bookstore would do that you’ve never seen before?

Upon consolidating and reviewing the responses we received, one point stood out to us—having the bookstore as a Third Space is very important. Furthermore, as a Third Space, the atmosphere must be safe, accessible, cozy, and laid-back while encouraging literacy and creativity—a home away from home. Comfortable seating, natural and soft lighting, plants, vintage decor, and chill music were some physical aspects highlighted in the answers.

Having a work/study area with desk space and free wifi in the bookstore is also important to the community. A co-working environment and accommodations for people who work from home were mentioned numerous times in the responses.

Hosting community projects such as a zine, lit wall, or journal was another key point we found. Something to bring people together while fostering creativity in this space for all is clearly significant and meaningful.

We also gathered information about future events, partnerships, underrepresented genres and categories, non-book items, and local causes and nonprofits. This night of community and collaboration was just the beginning. Thank you to everyone who came to Vision Night!

→ SEE THE FULL CHART OF TRENDS AND RESPONSES HERE

Come by our trailer at the Old Town Street Festival on June 7th in Old Town Leander from 11am to 10pm—we will be collecting more input from the community! See you there!

→ SEE THE FULL CHART OF TRENDS AND RESPONSES HERE

Come by our trailer at the Old Town Street Festival on June 7th in Old Town Leander from 11am to 10pm—we will be collecting more input from the community! See you there!

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