Mason tries to fill the store with books that people can’t find elsewhere in Williamsburg. “It’s nice to be able to give people back a memory,” Mason said. He says it is particularly exciting for him when customers are able to find the exact same edition of a book that holds memories from their childhood. Helping customers find books that mean something to them, or remind them of a certain something, is one thing Mason particularly enjoys about owning Mermaid Books. “I’m fond of books that were controversial or changed the literary landscape when they were published,” Mason said. He says his favorite books to collect for the store are out-of-print, first edition books by classic or offbeat authors, including first edition copies of Fitzgerald’s “This Side of Paradise” and Kerouac’s “Big Sur.” Mermaid Books, like the noted bookseller Strand in New York City, often displays various books outside to lure people in. Mason sees himself not just as a bookstore owner, but as a collector. “I was really impressed with the quality, range and variety of the books at Mermaid,” said Sterling. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac, but the books that he sells are varied in topic, genre and author. He particularly likes finding, displaying, discussing and selling first editions of books by F. Mason said he loves discussing the various books in the store with customers. “You can go into any section and he’ll be like, ‘I know this and that about what you’re looking for,’” Jones said. Whether his customers want to find a specific book or simply browse the store, he says he tries to help them find a book they will enjoy. Mason said he tries to make Mermaid Books an inviting and welcoming environment for college students, locals and tourists alike. “I heard about the store by word-of-mouth and some of my friends took me there the night before Fall Break,” Max Sterling ’18 said. The colorful steps leading down to the shop. Nevertheless, many students of the College are still able to find and enjoy what Mason’s store offers. Mermaid Books can be difficult to find because entering involves descending a staircase on the side of I Must Say, an antique store also located on Prince George Street. “There’s a real tradition of bookstores supporting the local culture and community and I try to continue that.” “One of the things I like most about owning Mermaid is that I get to meet a whole lot of wonderful people,” he said. Mason makes an effort to get to know everyone who walks into his store. “I’ve lived here in Williamsburg the past two summers and I’ve gotten to know Hatley and his wife really well,” Charlotte Jones ’15 said. He didn’t want to see the store close, so he bought it. In 2009, Mason discovered that the store was closing because the owner couldn’t find anyone to buy it. “I would often go down to Aromas to eat and then come down here to look at books,” he said. Mason grew up in Richmond but came to Williamsburg often, and frequented Mermaid Books before he bought it. “Her vision in opening this store was to provide a good place to get used books that were in readable condition and I’ve tried to continue that goal,” Mason said. It was opened in 1977 by Mary Lewis Chapman, an alumnus of the College of William and Mary, and is currently owned by Hatley Mason. Mermaid Books is a used bookstore currently housed on Prince George Street. There are books ranging from old Virginia tourism guidebooks, to college student’s’ British literature textbooks, to someone’s grandmother’s cookbooks, to rare, out-of-print, first edition classic novels. Every wall of Mermaid Books is lined with seemingly endless shelves of used books, which are filled with the markings of previous owners.
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