On August 1 this year, a largely unheralded event occurred in the center of town, when ownership of the Vashon Bookshop passed from long-time owner Nancy Katica to long-term employee Carrie Van Buren.

Originally from Walla Walla, Katica has been on the island for five decades now. Her husband grew up here, and they recognized “what a lovely place it was to raise a family.” She did various work here, notably floral design (generally and for weddings) before becoming involved with the bookshop in 2001. She subsequently became a partner in 2007, and then sole owner six years later. This year, “Everything just aligned,” she said. “I was looking to retire, and this was a good way to transition.”

Carrie Van Buren was born in Longview, and moved to the island in 1999. “I’d been looking at Vashon from West Seattle for five years,” she said. “I was ready to have space and quiet — in Seattle there were too many sirens, and like Nancy, I knew the island would be a fabulous place for our kids.”

The two women met at a book club more than twenty years ago. Both of Van Buren’s daughters did stints at the bookshop in high school, then she did. Katica joked about thinking at the time, “Both of her kids have been amazing — let’s see how Carrie does!”

There’s been very little turnover in the principal staff over the years: between them all, Katica, Van Buren, Barb Gustafson and Laurie Stewart have logged around 60 years there.

Van Buren is honored to be continuing the bookshop’s legacy. “And I’m excited to be in this business right now,” she said.

In a time when it may feel like the entire book trade is gradually switching over to Kindles and audiobooks, both women firmly note that this is not the case.

“People want tangible things in their hands,” Van Buren said. “They want the smell of a book, the sound of turning the pages.”

“There’s a growing market for [printed] books among the 20-30 year-old demographic,” Katica said.

Van Buren noted that it is “particularly gratifying to see children respond to books,” and overall, her work is exciting because it connects “people to the stories, ideas and the collective thoughts found on these shelves.”

Added Katica, “We also enjoy the experience here of having books that these days have been banned elsewhere.”

Inventory in the store changes constantly. “Because of the many used books we sell, we don’t know exactly what we’re going to have in the shop,” said Van Buren. “And people really respond to that diversity. In part, it’s a reflection of the area we live”, and of the cultural richness of the island and the Pacific Northwest.

Katica added that “old, eclectic, creative books come in”, and many of these often obscure treasures find homes. “I know that one day someone’s going to come in, find that unique book, and it will make their day.”

So which books would the two women take to a desert island?

For Katica, her first choice is Brian Doyle’s “Mink River.” It’s an endlessly lyrical novel about a small town in Oregon, told with compassion and great affection for its quirky, flawed characters, and anchored by the long history of native and Irish folklore. It even has a talking, philosophizing crow — who says pretty much what you’d expect a crow to say if they could talk.

She’d also choose “Catcher in the Rye.” “I enjoyed seeing the mental process of the transition in the main character,” she said.

Her final pick would be the Harry Potter novels. Her grandchildren have all read them, and she’s enjoyed seeing their impressions of J.K. Rowling’s fictional world.

“I’d also take some mysteries,” she said.

As for Van Buren, she would begin with Tove Jansson’s “The Moomin Troll” books. “I’d pick them for whimsy, and because I’m of Scandinavian heritage,” she said. “It’s funny, dark, weird Scandinavian humor.”

She’d also take “two books for the soul, for the spirit” — Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” and one or more of the books by the American Buddhist nun, Pema Chödrön.

Her final choices would be something by the British author E.M. Forster — probably “A Passage To India” — and Ken Kesey’s great sprawling novel of the Pacific Northwest, “Sometimes A Great Notion.” Van Buren recalls being so enthralled with the writing that “I read the last twenty pages as soon as I woke up in the morning, something I never usually do at that time.”

Both women are optimistic about the future of the Vashon Bookshop, which managed to survive the COVID pandemic. “All we wanted to do was to pay our staff and stay in business,” said Katica. “We can’t thank the community enough for all their kindness and support.”

She added, “Having Carrie continue the bookshop’s story means the world to me — I know it’s in good and loving hands.”

On the evening of First Friday, September 5, the bookshop will host a low-key celebration of Katica’s retirement — customers and any other readers are encouraged to drop by.

Phil Clapham is a writer and retired whale biologist who lives on Maury Island. His comic romance novel “Jack” (under his nom-de-plume Phillip Boleyn) is available on Amazon.