Columbia is finally getting an independent bookstore – in the Arcade Mall at 1332 Main St. Odd Bird Books, who has been attending Soda City since November 2019, announced that their first brick-and-mortar plans to be fully running by February 1.

Odd Bird Books storefront | Photo by @oddbirdbooks

We reached out to the owner, Cola-native Benjamin Adams (who grew up in Elmwood and recently moved back from Charleston), to give us the 4-1-1 for all you bookworms.

The 500 sq.ft. space (hello, cozy) is two doors down from Swanson’s Deli – and will be modeled after shops like Faulkner House in New Orleans + The Book Shop in Nashville.

All the shelves will be against the wall, giving people plenty of room to navigate around the store – but they’re also encouraging customers to hangout and read around the arcade (while sipping on coffee + grabbing snacks from neighbors like Indah, Ally and Elloise and Swanson’s Deli).

They’ll carry mostly general interest new releases – for both kids and adults. Think: New York Times Top 100 and books that you’d see on notable year end lists.

Benjamin previously worked at Charleston’s Blue Bicycle Books, where he credits the last six years of his bookstore experience – along with help from Soda Citizens like One Columbia’s Lee Snelgrove + City Center’s Jenna Bridgers, as well as Richland Library. It takes a village, y’all.