Heroes of the Week: 300 Residents of Chelsea, Michigan Move Bookstore Inventory 1 at a time

Anyone can be a hero. In today's blog you'll read about a small local bookstore that was moving to a new location nearby but couldn't figure how to move their inventory. So a call was put out, and 300 residents answered... moving the books 1 at a time. This is a story to make anyone smile.

(Photo: People help move books for Serendipity Books. Credit:Burrill Strong)

See how a Michigan town moved 9,100 books one by one to their new home 

AP April 15, 2025

CHELSEA, Mich. (AP) — Residents of all ages in a small Michigan community formed a human chain and helped a local bookshop move each of its 9,100 books — one by one — to a new storefront about a block away.

The bookshop owner, Michelle Tuplin put out a call for volunteers, hoping some might lend a hand. What she got was a full-on movement — a human conveyor belt stretching 350 feet from the old store’s stockroom, around the corner and into the new location.

More than 300 people — and one very good dog — showed up to help. Neighbors, customers and even passersby joined in, forming two human chains to get the job done.

The “book brigade” of around 300 people stood in two lines running along a sidewalk in downtown Chelsea on Sunday, passing each title from Serendipity Books’ former location directly to the correct shelves in the new building, down the block and around the corner on Main Street.

“It was a practical way to move the books, but it also was a way for everybody to have a part,” Michelle Tuplin, the store’s owner, said. “As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one.’”

(Michelle Tuplin, became the sole owner of Serendipity Books in 2017. Credit: Serendipity Books) 

Momentum had been building since Tuplin announced the move in January.

“It became so buzzy in town. So many people wanted to help,” she said Tuesday.

Tuplin said the endeavor took just under two hours — much shorter than hiring a moving company to box and unbox the thousands of titles. The brigade even put the books back on the shelves in alphabetical order.

Now Tuplin hopes to have the new location open within two weeks.

The bookstore has been in Chelsea, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) west of Detroit, since 1997. Tuplin has been the owner since 2017 and has three part-time employees.

About 5,300 people call Chelsea home and residents described it as a place where neighbors help neighbors.

“It’s a small town and people just really look out for each other,” said Kaci Friss, 32, who grew up in Chelsea and has worked at the bookstore for a little over a year. “Anywhere you go, you are going to run into someone you know or who knows you, and is going to ask you about your day.”

Friss said Sunday’s book brigade reminded her of “how special this community is.”

ABOUT THE SHOP/HISTORY: Serendipity has been in Chelsea since 1985, initially set up as a paperback exchange ( i.e., bring in ten books, take out ten books). Now, in addition to selling used books, the shop has accounts with multiple publishers, bringing in new books on the release day. Serendipity Books carries a diverse selection, including literary fiction, young adult fiction, children’s books, mystery, poetry, biography, spirituality/religion, and history. MORE:  https://www.a2books.org/serendipity-books/