Writer & Photographer / Abbie Willans
Curious Squirrel Bookshop is a locally owned and operated independent bookstore in downtown Zionsville. Its mission is to prioritize the amplification of marginalized voices and underrepresented stories. The store celebrated its third anniversary this year, and the team at Curious Squirrel is more excited than ever.
Owner Aubrey Able never imagined she would actually be running a bookstore one day. She’s worn many hats over the years, going from the Air Force to law school and becoming an attorney. In 2022, Able was feeling burned out and wanted a break.
“It was a random idea that I didn’t think I’d act on, but I saw the ‘for lease’ sign on the door and just jumped on it,” she recalls.
She knew the store needed to be on Main Street with lots of foot traffic in order to be successful, and Zionsville felt like the perfect location to start her small business.
Able thought she’d return to her old job after a while, but three years in, she’s still happy to be running Curious Squirrel.
The staff is small, with three other booksellers on the team, but together they host many events at the store and around the community.
“We participate in Main Street events, we have monthly poetry open mic nights, monthly book clubs, craft nights, story times, and host special seasonal events,” she says.
They’ve hosted holiday events for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Diwali, Ramadan and more.
“A lot of work we’ve done has been with other people. There are some parts of the community that don’t get enough attention, and I want to be able to help with that and offer this space so that others can facilitate events if they have something in mind that aligns with our mission,” she says.
She’s noticed that the poetry open mic nights are largely attended by teenagers and young adults, and she’s happy to see them take charge of it and make it their own.
Encouraging literacy and creativity in children is something Able is deeply passionate about. On the fourth Saturday of every month, Curious Squirrel hosts the “Paws to Read” program, which brings trained therapy dogs into the shop to help children practice reading aloud to them.
Additionally, Able has partnered with the Indy Book Project, a literary nonprofit with a mission to ensure all children have access to books in their home. She hopes to partner with even more nonprofit organizations in the future.
Besides children’s programs, the team at Curious Squirrel is also involved in events for adults. Recently, they participated in the adult book fair at Four Fingers Distillery in Lebanon, as well as the Rewind Book Fair held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They’re always one of the stops in the Indy Indie Book Crawl, which is an annual four-day event to support small bookstores in Indianapolis.
As for the books for sale at Curious Squirrel, Able primarily curates books that are written by underrepresented authors.
“They’re people of color, disabled, neurodivergent or queer, or they have a perspective that you don’t get much of, or they write about subject matter you don’t hear about a lot, like IVF or alternative families. It spans all genres. It’s much harder than I thought it was going to be, because there are so many books out there,” she says.
Choosing the books that will be popular with customers is a challenge and a balancing act. Able says that figuring out which books will appeal to middle-grade readers is particularly difficult.
“Sometimes they want books about sports, and sometimes they’re really interested in a specific part of history,” she explains.
She adds that her shop is a bit more niche than a general bookstore, and it can be tough trying to compete with big brands like Amazon.
“But I have customers who will drive across town specifically to buy books from me, and that helps. It’s our bookish community that keeps us going,” Able says.
She thinks that her varied, unusual background has given her a unique perspective and helped her to understand others better.
“I’ve seen a broad spectrum of communities. Owning this store has opened up my world a lot more and I’ve learned a lot. I feel like my kids know a lot more than I ever did about people who are different from them,” says Able.
Curious Squirrel Bookshop is located at 120 S. Main St., Zionsville, Indiana, 46077. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
For more information about book club meetings and other events, please call (765) 680-1051, email hello@curioussquirrelbooks.com or visit curioussquirrelbooks.com.
