Books galore at Cottage Bookstore

Nestled in the rolling hills of the Pearl community is a rare business for a small town. It is known as the Pearl Cottage Bookstore and is only open one day a month during the Pearl Bluegrass Festival.

The bookstore is housed in the early day “teachery” building which was built adjacent to the Pearl School in 1934. Over the years, the teachery building was used for several different purposes including classrooms when the school burned in 1941. Following the closure of the Pearl School in 1956, the building was rented out and eventually became vacant.

In 2007, three local women put their heads together and came up with a plan to open a nonprofit bookstore and thrift shop designed so that the proceeds would benefit local charities and also benefit community members who were in need. Charities supported by the bookstore include the Cherokee Home for Children, His Kids organization in Lampasas, and families dealing with cancer, victims of fire damage, and gas money for local families attending medical treatments.

Linda Ray, Kay Pruett and Corlisa Cunningham jumped into action when Jackie Brewer of Waco donated thousands of used books to the bookstore which they first spread out on tables inside and outside the building. Pruett was instrumental in having bookcases installed in four rooms of the teachery building and thus the Pearl Cottage Bookstore was born. Each room is sectioned off into different categories including novels, spiritual, westerns, mystery, children’s, true crime, foreign language, poetry, plays and romance. They also offer audio books, CDs and DVDs. The massive number of books on hand now exceeds well over 6,000.

Betsy Clark, correspondent for the Pearl News at The Gatesville Messenger, described the three founding members of the bookstore as generous to a fault and considers them as sister/friends who are caring and compassionate individuals serving those in need in the community.

“If there is a need, they are on it,” Clark said. She also stated that the Pearl community is very fortunate to have these ladies. “They love their God and serve Him well, and they also love Pearl and serve her well. These ladies and their Lord are why the Pearl Cottage Bookstore lives, breathes, and has its being.”

Individually, Clark described each of the ladies – “Linda Ray could sell a fur coat to a skunk and turn trash into treasure and make enough money to feed a third world country with money left over. Kay Pruett could organize, facilitate and re-energize a Fortune 500 company with her creativity alone – knowing where executives stood with her because Kay minces no words and that’s what people love about her. Corlisa Cunningham could guide a buyer to the best deals, convince the best salesperson that the price she wants to pay was their idea, and suddenly have an inspirational thought and make it happen almost out of thin air.”

Donations are always being dropped off on the porch of the bookstore – whether it be books, clothing, food or household items. Items that cannot be used are in turn donated to other charities. “We don’t throw anything away. If we can’t use the donated items, we find other charities and organizations that can. We recycle everything,” Ray said.

Their slogan at the Cottage Bookstore has always been, “Take what you want and pay what you want,” Ray said. Their initial dream to help those in need continues to grow each and every month with their never-ending devotion to charities and to their community.

For those wishing to visit the Cottage Bookstore, it is open the first Saturday of each month with the exception of September when it is held on the second Saturday following Labor Day.