The Story Collective

The Story Collective, St. Joseph’s only independent bookstore, offers something for everyone. For owner and operator Ashley Dawson, who has always viewed books as a door to engage with other people, the shop is a dream come true.

A sandwich-board sign on the sidewalk, updated daily, invites book browsers and buyers alike. One day there’s an image of a globe with the chalked message, “World’s Closest Bookstore,” and on another day, the word Jolabokaflod is defined—the Icelandic Christmas Eve tradition of giving books to the people you love most in the world. 

The Story Collective, St. Joseph’s only independent bookstore, offers something for everyone. Owner and operator Ashley Dawson says, “I have children ranging from 5 to 13 in age, so I love finding books for children and families to enjoy. You’ll find about an equal number of fiction and nonfiction books, with a slight emphasis on memoirs and biographies, because I love reading and learning about other people’s lives. 

“Books are a door to engage with people, and stories can bring down walls,” Ashley says. 

“Books themselves are often a means of escape,” she says. “People have such powerful memories tied to reading and books, and owning a store and providing those memories for others is alluring to those of us that know well the magic of great literature.” 

Owning a bookstore was a natural fit for Ashley. “Books and storytelling have always been a part of my life. I have a family full of storytellers and so many joyful memories of sitting around sharing stories with a lot of exaggeration and hyperbole,” she says. 

She has dreamed of owning a bookstore since she was in high school. She even wrote a business plan for a bookstore called “The Treetop.” Over the course of the last five years, she started thinking about that plan again, which was when the dream started becoming more tangible. “So, it’s been a long time coming,” Ashley says with a laugh. 

In addition to selecting the perfect location in the historic downtown of St. Joseph, picking the perfect name for the store took months of deliberation. “Obviously, this is a store full of stories, but I think all of us are stories to be told and to be shared with others. I want the name The Story Collective to speak not only to the books on the shelves but also to the people that walk in the door,” she explains. 

“The store is inevitably shaped by me, but also by the community of readers that frequent the store,” she explains. “Perhaps ‘codependent’ would be a better description, because every independent bookstore is reliant on a community of readers to make it great.” 

The bookstore also aims to make a difference in the community. In conjunction with a local church, The Story Collective spearheaded a project that allowed patrons to purchase brand new books that the store delivered to every student at a local elementary school. 

Another part of The Story Collective’s success, and certainly its charm, is its location in a historic building. As Ashley describes it, “Our building is actually part of the inspiration for our name. We are in a historic 125-year-old building, and as I researched previous businesses and owners, I was so inspired by the lives of people that had passed through this space. The Story Collective truly embraces the idea that we all have a story to share.” 

Visit The Story Collective at 114 South 7th Street in St. Joseph or online at StJoeStoryCo.com. 

All photos courtesy of Glory Fagan

Article originally published in the July/August 2024 issue of Missouri Life.