The Next Chapter: Your new favorite place

While the name of the soon-to-open downtown Jasper shop, The Next Chapter, points to a renewed life for used books and records, Erin and Jeremiah Smith aren’t limiting it to worn paper and vinyl only.

“Our whole perspective is that there is always hope,” Jeremiah said. “There’s always more to be written in your story.”

That’s why, besides being filled with books and records, the building has been completely renovated. That’s why they have carefully selected coffees from local roasters Smalley Coffee and Stay Brewed and will feature loose-leaf tea and boba drinks.

It’s all designed to create an inviting atmosphere for lingering and building community, a place for people to find the next chapter in their own stories.

“The phrase I keep latching on to is that it’s not about the coffee and the books, it’s about what happens over coffee and books,” Jeremiah added.

Erin has held onto this dream of owning and operating a coffee shop since her 20s. The couple, who met in bible college, began talking about it when they worked in youth ministry in Rockville, Ind., their first job out of college.

Their next chapters didn’t give Erin an opportunity to pursue that dream. As they got older, her role transformed into one of support for Jeremiah in his ministry work while mothering the couple’s two adopted children.

Plus, they moved around a lot as they felt God calling them to different missions, such as planting a church in South Carolina, working with Africa New Life, and building communities in Atlanta apartment complexes, to name a few.

The work was fulfilling, and at each new place, the couple found a favorite coffee shop or bookstore to work and relax. These spaces reminded them of what a church should look like–people from all walks of life coming together in a common love.

Erin’s dream persisted as she took bits and pieces of what she liked from each favorite shop to build her own business in her imagination. At one point, she even purchased a trailer to begin outfitting it for a mobile coffee shop. But the page turned in their lives, and a new chapter meant she had to sell the trailer and put the dream on hold again.

“It’s a dream that has taken on different forms and been in the back of my mind for a lot of years,” Erin, 47, said.

Looking around the renovated space that recently held a brokerage, she marveled, “It’s kind of weird. We had a moment the other day where we were like, ‘This is really happening.'”

Bringing it together has been a labor of love, with many hands helping to plan, build, refurbish and organize the new business. Jeremiah jokes they can’t host a thank-you party in the store because it would be too many for the building’s rated capacity.

The hard work is apparent. The interior is unrecognizable, with custom-built bookshelves filled with books and records, a new coffee counter and coffee equipment, an office space transformed into a children’s reading area, and a former storage space refurbished and expanded into a great room with two large windows overlooking Newton Street.

The finishing touches are being made now. When the doors open on Monday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., guests can check out new and used books, vinyl records and other small gifts, candles and handmade jewelry while drinking a pour-over coffee, hot latte, tea, or boba.

And no, their Christian background doesn’t limit the types of books or music that will be available. You’ll find Stephen King and Karen Kingsbury comfortably sitting together on a bookshelf. The used records also cover a broad range of genres.

“This is not a Christian bookstore,” Jeremiah affirmed.

They never planned for it to be Christian, though their faith shines through in their hospitality. The Smiths want everyone to feel welcome in The Next Chapter. They also plan on using proceeds from the business to support different local needs chosen monthly. Those funds could go to a struggling family or a local nonprofit.

Through their experiences in the welcoming third spaces they worked in, The Next Chapter is designed to be your new favorite chair with a hot, delicious beverage and a book nearby.

Erin is excited to open The Next Chapter.

“I’m excited about both the people we know by name because they’re here all the time and the new people who walk in the door and are excited to see it for the first time,” she said. “This is an extension of my home, and I want it to be like home to them.”

You can learn more by following The Next Chapter on Facebook here or by contacting Erin at erin@thenextchapterbooks.org.