Lauren Pronger opened her community-focused bookstore in Amarillo with a clear mission: to ensure that everyone who walks through her doors feels seen and represented. Since its official opening on June 1, 2023, Chapterhouse Books has been warmly welcomed by the community, attracting people from Amarillo and surrounding areas such as Plainview, Shamrock, and Lubbock.
Chapterhouse Books’ journey began in April 2022 as a pop-up and online business. Pronger, a native of Amarillo, returned home in the summer of 2020 after college due to the COVID-19 pandemic and her father’s stage 4 cancer diagnosis. She started small at first, with just a 6-foot table and 20 books, but the positive response from the community fueled her ambition to open a permanent location. The business slowly grew, and Pronger gradually built it into a full-fledged business with the help of her late father – who passed away two weeks before she signed her lease and was the director of the Small Business Development Center.
“Our mission is very much community-driven,” Pronger said. “We’re really here for the Amarillo community. We want to make sure that everyone can come in and see themselves represented on our shelves, but also that people can come in and see their neighbors represented.”
In a city like Amarillo, which is often perceived as culturally homogenous, Pronger sees her bookstore as an important place to foster understanding and appreciation for the city’s true diversity. “Amarillo is much more diverse than people initially assume,” she said. “We have a reputation that isn’t always the best, especially for authors and publishers from places like New York, LA or Austin. But we actually have a lot of those people here in Amarillo who were born here or moved here.”
Pronger grew up in Amarillo and later earned a degree in linguistics from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. She didn’t realize the extent of her city’s diversity until she returned after college. “I think it’s good for people to realize that we’re a much more diverse community,” she said. “There are people here who have lived in Afghanistan, Somalia and Burma. We have a lot of Spanish, Arabic and Farsi speakers. All of that is here, and you can find this culture that people aren’t aware of.”
Despite the personal and logistical hurdles, Pronger’s determination paid off. The store’s opening was accompanied by a successful event featuring author Johnny Garza Villa, and since then the community response has exceeded all expectations. Loyal customers return regularly, and new visitors are often delighted to discover a store that offers exactly what they were looking for.
The bookstore’s success also underscores a broader shift in Amarillo. Although it’s a conservative city, there’s a growing appetite for literature that pushes boundaries and expands perspectives. Many of the books Pronger curates represent a wide range of cultures, languages and life experiences. Pronger has observed that while some people may initially react with unease to certain books, they often find something else on the shelves that appeals to them. “We try to offer a little bit of everything for everyone. That’s what I usually tell them — if you don’t like what you see, look at the book next to it,” she said.
Pronger stressed that her goal is to offer a wide variety of books that can broaden readers’ horizons and deepen their understanding of the world around them. “Books make us better people,” she said. “The more well-read you are, the more types of books you read, the more experiences you have, the better you become as a person and as a member of a community.”
In addition to selling books, the store also hosts a series of events designed to engage and educate the community, including author visits, book signings, trivia nights, and open mic events. Upcoming highlights include a virtual book release party with Syrian-American author Shifa Saltagi Safadi and an in-person event with fantasy author Martha Wells.
Pronger’s mother, Kay Brizzolara, initially had reservations about her daughter’s venture, especially given the political climate and the potentially controversial nature of some of the books they sell. “I was really worried about her,” Brizzolara admitted. “I was proud of her for taking action, but I was worried she might get a lot of backlash. But the response has been wonderful. I’m proud of her for sticking with it. I’ve seen these mothers cry when they see a book they can buy for their child that they can relate to.”
Despite these concerns, the bookstore faced little opposition and was instead met with overwhelming support. Brizzolara, who helps her daughter in the store, has since become one of her biggest supporters. “I would really like to see her whole vision for the community come to fruition,” she said. “The bookstore is just one part of it, but by working with many different nonprofits that she works with, she can really make a difference in the lives of some children in the community who don’t have access to books like this.”
For Pronger, the bookstore is already a success. “Any time I can sell someone a book, I consider that a success,” she said. “I’m already replenishing the bookshelves and introducing people to books that are really good and really cool authors that they might not have seen otherwise.”
Looking ahead, Pronger hopes to maintain the store’s momentum and build on early success. “If we survive our three-year contract, that would be a success to me,” she said. “I think it’s already been a success. If we can maintain the kind of reception we’ve already experienced and keep that energy going, that would be great.”
When Pronger reflects on the journey that led her to opening the bookstore, she is reminded of the importance of perseverance and community support. “All businesses are scary,” she acknowledged. “But when you see the joy on someone’s face when they find a book that speaks to them, it makes it all worth it.”
Chapterhouse Books is located at 3317 SW 6th Ave. in Amarillo’s historic Route 66 district. For more information on upcoming events, visit chapterhousebookstore.com/pages/events.
