Meet Miriam Roskam of Mountain Shire: Books & Gifts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Miriam Roskam.

Hi Miriam, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been a long-time avid reader and lover of books. I’ve often told people that when I retired, I wanted to work in a bookstore. Well, here I am, in my mid-30s, not retired and owning my bookstore. When I was thinking about opening a bookstore, I found out the only other bookstore in the county was closing. It was the confirmation I needed of knowing I was doing the right thing; filling a literary void in the community by creating a bookstore in Grand County, CO.

And so, Mountain Shire: Books & Gifts was created in 2020. We’re an independent bookstore nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Winter Park, Colorado. I firmly believe reading is an essential component of life and should have its classification in one’s hierarchy of needs. I love sharing my passion for the written word with others. It’s the best part of being in the book industry.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wish I could say yes, but no, it was incredibly hard. When I decided to open the bookstore, it was during the pandemic. Not the best of times to open a business, when the world was in a constant state of unrest and unease.

Some of the struggles were financing, and trying to find an institution to loan new business money with very little assets to their name. Another struggle was trying to find a location in a tourist-driven town. These are just two of the many struggles I encountered when trying to start my business.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Mountain Shire Books is a woman-owned, independent bookstore!

Our mission at Mountain Shire Books is to promote literary and artistic growth for readers of all ages. To foster a community of readers of all ages who will preserve and pass down, from generation to generation, their appreciation, love, and power of the written word.

We are proud to call ourselves a community bookstore. We are constantly striving to build and maintain a positive working relationship with our libraries, schools, and other educational entities within the county.

We host author events, book clubs, and storytime! We do our best to have books for readers of all ages and if we don’t have what you are looking for, we will do our best to get it for you.

Mountain Shire Books was established in 2020 and we found a physical home for the bookstore in the summer of 2021. We are still getting the word out about Mountain Shire Books and we hope you’ll visit us in person or support us online at mountainshirebooks.com.

What’s next?
Currently, I am focusing on how to continue to drive and improve sales. Even though we’ve been open for two years, a lot of people in the county still don’t know Mountain Shire Books exists. I am looking forward to two big author events this fall along with a hopefully busy summer.

No big changes as of now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mountainshirebooks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountainshirebooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountainshirebooks
• Other: https://bookshop.org/shop/mountainshirebooks