Years ago, Amy Mazzariello, now of West De Pere, worked in a bookstore in Portland, OR and got a taste for bookselling.
After returning to the area in 2006, she began working at the Readers Loft and then, when the owner decided to retire, Mazzariello brought it in 2019.
She relocated the store to Washington Street and renamed it Lions Mouth Bookstore.
Mazzariello said she was at the Ben Franklin Museum in Philadelphia where she learned that Franklin was instrumental in starting the concept of lending libraries in the United States — the first of which was called The Library Company, which still exists as a research institution today.
On the counter in the original Library Company was a container for dropping suggestions for books patrons would like to see on the library’s shelves.
A lion’s face was painted on the front of the tin and the animal’s mouth was where the suggestions were dropped. This is where Mazzariello came up with the name for her bookstore.
Check her out online at lionsmouthbookstore.com. Josh Staloch Photo