For over 70 years, Paul’s Book Store has been a pillar of the Madison community, serving residents with a large collection of books, magazines and more. A few days before Thanksgiving, they announced their closing on social media, encouraging people to keep on reading.

On social media, students and members of the Madison community reacted to the news of the beloved bookstore’s closing. The Badger Herald got the chance to speak with some of these students about the impact of Paul’s and their favorite memories with the store.

Lili Vojvodich, a senior studying communication arts at the University of Wisconsin, said Paul’s is one of her favorite spots in Madison.

“When I first moved to Madison and was looking for people and places to connect with, Paul’s bookstore immediately stuck out,” Vojvodich said. “I think most people shared a sense of calmness and comfort every time they wandered in. I am incredibly sad to hear of Paul’s closing and I am so grateful I got to experience its magic for so long.”

Another previous Madison local, Max Holperin, said he always remembered stopping at Paul’s growing up in Madison. To him, because Paul’s was such a unique and rare book store, it felt like Paul’s was the connector of campus and the wider Madison community.

It seems like invisible strings tie us all to this bookstore. Nestled between corporations like Walgreens and Chipotle, Paul’s is one of the few shops on State Street that gives people a slice of authentic, Madisonian culture.

So it isn’t any surprise that Paul’s is family owned, and even if they weren’t directly related, employees felt like family too. Paul and Caryl Askins opened the book store in 1954, according to an article from Channel 30000. After Paul passed away in 1975, Caryl took the store over and developed it into a business with no prior knowledge on how to do so. Now, their daughter Martha works there as well while Caryl manages the store mainly from home. Caryl has decided to retire and close up shop, which is why Paul’s is closing. In the shop, one can find various photos of UW graduates who used to work there.

In an old On Wisconsin paper from the spring of 2005, writer Candice Andrews interviewed former employees of Paul’s. Lori Merriam said Caryl was the only person who would hire her when she first moved to Madison, and helped support her while she was student teaching. No matter how long it had been since she had worked last, Merriam knew there would be a place for her at Paul’s. Another former employee, Kaitlin Davis, said Caryl was much more than just a boss to her, serving as a mother figure and providing comfort to her in her first year away from home.

Paul’s has been posting on their social media for almost every holiday and event in Madison since their Instagram debut in 2020. During COVID-19 lockdowns, instead of Maxwell Street Days, Paul’s posted a series of books with masks on the figures on the cover called “Mask-Well Street Days.”

When many stores in Madison boarded up their windows during protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 due to some stores being vandalized or robbed, Paul’s posted a photo of their storefront with the caption, “We decided not to board up our windows … We choose love. Peace, Justice, Books.”

When authors pass away, Paul’s posts about their books and what they were known for. The more I seem to research Paul’s, the more I realize that it is a place for small things, books once-loved, silly postcards, sentimentalists, dreamers, hoarders, teeny tiny illustrations taped to wooden bookshelves made by fairies and magical people who still smile at you when they pass you on the street.

“[Paul’s] has contributed greatly to the personality of Madison, UW-Madison especially, and has been intrinsic to what makes State Street so special,” said Isabelle Dunai, a graduate student on the journalism professional track with a focus in public health. “I hope this loss is something that motivates us all to turn to our small businesses more, so that we don’t have to say goodbye to more beloved spots. They are truly what makes this city a home.”