Discover Little Professor Bookshop in Homewood, Alabama — a cozy independent bookstore with staff-curated selections, children’s books, and community spirit.
I am only traveling through Birmingham for one night on my way to Jackson Mississippi. Sadly after getting here, I realized I should have planned a few days in Birmingham. I am staying in Oak Mountain which is a fabulous state park with an incredible playground and lake. Frankly, Oak Mountain State Park beats out Stone Mountain State Park in Georgia by a landslide. Since we only had a Sunday afternoon, I was able to drive around town and hit up a popular book store: Little Professor Bookshop.
This Professor is on Point
There are two Little Professor Bookshops in Birmingham. The one I went to was in Homewood, Al (address: 2738 18th St S, Homewood, AL 35209). According to TripAdvisor, it is the oldest independent bookstore in Alabama. I wanted to see what made a store last so long. For this book store, it is all about the community.
This is a place where members of the community show up to meet, to talk, to work, to drink coffee, to browse titles, to catch up with old friends. While I was perusing the books, there were a couple of mom’s catching up with each other on a Sunday afternoon while their kids read at the table. A dad was reading to two kids at the front kids area, and when a new person walked in, they immediately greeted one another. As I was wandering upstairs, two different laptop workers waved hi to friends they saw come in and wave them to the loft. Clearly, this is a community bookshop where everyone knows the book lovers.
For me, the other aspect of community that you feel is the staff/book lover picks. The bookstore allows their staff and customers to write up a little note about the books and put them in front so that other readers figure out why that book was enjoyed. All bookshops have staff picks, but this was at another level. As I walked along the rows of shelves, it was like reading little diary entries on why an item is beautiful. I had so much fun reading the various notes. The notes weren’t generic, and they really made you want to pick up the book and start reading. Along the adult fiction wall, almost every single book had a note under it to explain why that book was special. Why that book belonged on the shelf on the bookstore and potentially on your bookshelf at home. It was a beautiful love letter to books looking at that wall.
Community isn’t the only thing this book store has going for it. What first strikes you as different when you walk into this book store is all the light. There is a second story loft, but the light filters down since the loft doesn’t take up the entire second floor. Since the inside is bright white, the light reflects everywhere and really makes the books stand out for their color. Since the shelves are not packed and stacked like normal small bookshops, there is visual room to breathe and more full covers are seen versus the spines.
There was no issue parking here and the outside was just as lovely as the inside. There is a cute patio with chairs. It is clearly meant as a meeting place and a space to hang out and read. Every level of the store was designed that way. It had spaces to read, space to flow to the next book shelf, space to chat with your friends standing up. I wanted to be disappointed by the smaller selection of books, but the whole space is designed around a community that loves books. This bookstore focuses on the needs of the community. There are less books than I would expect in a bookstore of this size, but the books feel loved by the community, and the design of the store isn’t about the books but about the people. As a booklover, I am often confronted by how lonely my hobby can be, but here, members of a community come together. In some ways, I now wish I lived closer to Birmingham. There isn’t a reader community in my area that exists like it thrives in Birmingham.
As for the selection of books, it was a smaller selection and focused on more bestsellers. However, in each genre there were small gems to be found and new authors to be discovered. The book store catered to all genres so some sections were quite small. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that there was only one, maybe two books of the same title on the shelf. I would read the community pick note and pick up the book, only to realize that if I bought it, there would be nothing next to the note. I bought the books anyway since they sounded so good.
I walked out with two picture books, two middle school books, and three teen novels. The prices were on point with major boxstores. I managed to wreck my wallet to the tune of 146 dollars. That doesn’t make me happy, but honestly each book I picked up was beloved by someone in that community, a fellow book lover like me. I want to rip through the pages and figure out what moment made that book special for them. My wallet may not love me right now, but my book loving heart can’t wait to start reading.
If you are down in Alabama, spend time with the Little Professor. Take time to be part of a book loving community. I don’t think that you will regret it.
