Story by Kathryn Schiliro
Photos by Angelina Bellebuono

Why did the bookstore cross the road?
More like: What does it take to get a bookstore across the road?
Easy. Close to 200 patient people; about 7,000 books; and two, maybe three, hours.

Morgan County citizens joined with visitors from as far away as Atlanta Saturday, bound by a common love: literature, and Madison’s independently owned bookstore, Dog Ear Books.

The brainchild of Dog Ear owner Jon Tonge, “The Great Book Brigade” was an effort to move the store from its former home in Madison Markets to its new home across from this newspaper’s office on S. Main Street by way of a giant, single-file, passing line.

“I was kind of surprised it came off,” Tonge said, given that his primary mode of communication about the event was word of mouth. “At about 12:50 [the event started at 1 p.m.], there were about 15 people at the bookstore. I was freaking out. But everyone got there right on time.”

More than simply a move, Tonge saw the event, what he considered akin to a barn raising, an opportunity.
“The great thing about Saturday is that people took ownership of the thing,” Tonge said. “It’s not my bookstore; it’s your bookstore. It can be whatever you want it to be. I’m just the guy who works at the bookstore.”

To that end, Tonge’s plans for the new space, a house, include:
A room solely dedicated to records, featuring a mirror ball;
A “make-out room” (“Somebody has to provide a space for that,” Tonge said.) containing the Young Adult books and complete with lava lamps and a couch;

A room for new books;
A room for used books;
A play area for kids;

And a space for the sale of dry goods – soup mixes, jams, jellies, canned coffee – and farmer’s market-type products – milk, local cheese and yogurt made with Johnston’s Dairy products – all provided by HunkerDowns, as well as a coffee shop, complete with pastries from Town 220.

And that’s just downstairs.
Upstairs, Tonge plans for space to give piano and guitar lessons as well as space for a meditation class, maybe a Yoga class once or twice a week. He also plans to always keep one room empty.

“If you need space to have a class, I want to provide that,” Tonge said. “It want it to be a community center kind of thing.”
While this was Tonge’s vision, it was never an option in the old store; the space simply got too crowded.

“I like the space, I have a lot of fond memories of it,” Tonge said, of why he chose to move Dog Ear. “But there were records on the floor, and piles of books everywhere… I pretty much topped out the capabilities over there.”

No matter how big the store grows, now that it has the space to do so, Tonge won’t soon forget what happened last Saturday. (And that’s not just because he has it well-documented between a movie and the pictures of several photographers.)

“It meant a lot to me personally,” Tonge said. “Me getting married was really, really awesome. This was the second-most awesome personal thing that’s ever happened to me.

“I didn’t know I had that many friends; I think Eve had a lot to do with it.”

And for those concerned about Eve –Dog Ear’s feline inhabitant– she moved Sunday.

“She’s a little freaked out right now,” Tonge said. “But I’ve got the record player going, and Marvin Gaye’s on right now, so she came out. She’s checking it out.”

While he’ll be in and out, Tonge plans to open by the end of this week.

“I want to thank everyone for helping and for caring,” Tonge said. “I hope the new books tore can be as good as the old one was, maybe better… I appreciate the people who let me have the best job in the world.”

Printed in the January 28, 2010 edition.