People’s Book, a new independent bookstore, is opening in Takoma Park Tuesday.

The store has more than 12,000 books that tell stories for every age, including a large children’s section. Owner Megan Bormet says about 30% of the books are for children — 40% if you include young adults.

Bormet lives in Takoma Park with her husband and two young children and she says they felt the area needed a local bookstore that offered books with more age variety. A former educator, Bormet says one of her favorite things about teaching was “finding the right book for the right kid at the right time.”

“I’m hoping that any kid that comes in, whether they’re a reader or non-reader, can connect with something in the store,” Bormet says. “This idea of connecting kids and adults with books that they love in our community of Takoma Park brings me a lot of joy.”

Bormet says the store also has a unique section of independent and local magazines, as well as independent comics and graphic novels (her husband is an avid comic book reader). In the fall, People’s Book is partnering with alternative comics convention Small Press Expo to host a couple of graphic artists and comic book authors at the store.

Customers can also buy book-themed gifts and grab locally-brewed drip coffee courtesy of the Vigilante Coffee Company, or treats from D.C. favorites like the Capital Candy Jar. There isn’t a separate sit-down cafe or eating area like you might find at Kramers or The Den at Politics and Prose, but there’ll be chairs for people to curl up with coffee and read, or chat with a friend.

“It really is a place that we hope people can gather and connect,” Bormet says. “We’ve been all isolated for so long after COVID, so we’re trying to create a place of belonging and gathering for people who have missed it for so long.”

There are plenty of events for just that. Readers can participate in one or more of the store’s 10 monthly book clubs, including one focusing on LGBTQ poets, a nonfiction book club, and the Book People Book Club — a book club for ‘bookish books’ (think books about writers, like Emily Henry’s Beach Read).

The store will also host The Green Way Reading Series, a poetry series by Elizabeth Bryant and Takoma Park’s Poet Laureate Taylor Johnson. It will kick off on Sunday, July 2 and will be the store’s first major event. On July 18, the store will be inviting journalist and historian Amy Brady for its first author discussion. She will be discussing her book Ice, a history on, you guessed it, everything ice — from ice cream to ice rinks to melting ice caps.

People’s Book is located at 7014-A Westmoreland Ave. It will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays to Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The store is closed Mondays. A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for July 15.