South Jersey woman turns health scare into dream bookstore in Bordentown

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After building a strong following throughout South Jersey through her mobile bookstore, Charity Herndon is preparing to open the first permanent home for Austen’s Shelf in Bordentown on Saturday, June 6, during the statewide New Jersey Book Crawl.

The opening weekend will include a regency-themed celebration inspired by Jane Austen’s era.

For Herndon, a Black New Jersey author and lifelong book lover, the opening marks the next chapter of a journey that began during a health scare last year.

Doctors found two tumors in her breast when she was 29 years old, which led to mammograms, biopsies and surgery. While waiting for answers and test results, Herndon said she began thinking differently about her future.

“I remember just kind of waiting, and just looking in the mirror,” Herndon said. “I was like, ‘Well, if this turns out to be cancer, and I’m going into treatment and things, what’s one thing that I haven’t done that I wanted to save for retirement?’ And so, it was to open a bookstore.”

Within weeks, Herndon and her husband bought a trailer and began transforming it into Austen’s Shelf, a Jane Austen-inspired mobile bookstore that quickly became a familiar sight at coffee shops, festivals and community events throughout South Jersey.

“We didn’t even have the car to pull it,” she said. “We rented a truck, and we pulled the trailer two hours from Pennsylvania.”

Herndon, who lives in Woolwich Township and graduated from Rowan University in Glassboro, has been building stories for years.

While studying at Rowan, Herndon began writing her first novel, “Other Side of the Tracks,” a young adult retelling of “Romeo and Juliet.” She started the book during her senior year after a creative writing assignment encouraged students to write a story for young adult readers.

Herndon said she spent years trying to get the book published and received about 250 rejections from agents before finally securing representation. The novel was eventually published by Simon & Schuster in 2022.

“Books have always been a source of comfort for me,” she said. “When I was going through something that was very traumatizing, I wanted to be able to not only find comfort in myself, but I wanted to offer that same comfort to other people.”

A bookstore built around connection

Herndon’s mobile bookstore quickly developed a loyal following throughout the area. She said about 1,000 people attended the trailer’s grand opening weekend this past September at the Cherry Hill Mall, despite heavy rain.

Now, Austen’s Shelf is becoming permanent, with a new 468-square-foot storefront at 230 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown.

Herndon said the town felt like a natural fit because of its artistic identity, history and the enthusiastic response she received from the community when the trailer first visited earlier this year.

“The whole town came, and they were so excited,” she said. “They were like, ‘We want a bookstore like this here, permanently.’”

The new storefront location will allow Austen’s Shelf to expand beyond the limitations of its 98-square-foot trailer. Herndon plans to host book clubs, author events and gatherings designed to encourage people to stay and connect.

While the bookstore is expanding into a permanent location, Herndon said the original mobile trailer will continue appearing at festivals, community events and pop-ups throughout the region.

To help fund the brick-and-mortar store, Herndon launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised thousands of dollars from supporters who had followed Austen’s Shelf from its earliest trailer days.

“It’s so awesome to see a lot of people I’ve met through Austen’s Shelf, to see their names next to the donations,” she said. “It just shows that they believe in the dream as much as we do.”

The crowdfunding money helped pay for inventory, rent and renovations inside the new storefront.

“I wanted a space where people could linger,” she said. “If someone wants to meet their friend for coffee, they could sit down in the bookstore and hang out.”

That atmosphere already exists through the bookstore’s audiobook walking club, where readers gather each month at local coffee shops before walking through nearby parks while listening to audiobooks together.

“We start off with a coffee and chat,” Herndon said. “Everybody just kind of hangs out. They meet new friends, they exchange numbers and then we do it all again the next month.”

Independent bookstores are growing again nationwide

Independent bookstores across the United States are seeing a resurgence after years of decline, fueled by readers seeking experiences online retailers cannot replicate.

According to the American Booksellers Association, the national trade organization representing independent bookstores, the number of independent bookstores in the United States has grown significantly in recent years. In 2025, 422 new independently owned bookstores opened nationwide, a 31% increase from the previous year. The association said it currently has 74 member bookstores across New Jersey.

“Independent bookstores are run by passionate booksellers who spend a great deal of time living in the world of books,” said Ray T. Daniels, chief communications officer for the American Booksellers Association. “They read them, they curate them for their community and they handsell them based on real-time conversations and face-to-face interactions. What Amazon offers is nothing like that.”

For Black-owned bookstores specifically, the mission can carry additional cultural importance.

A 2026 report highlighted by Axios found there are now about 306 Black-owned bookstores nationwide, representing roughly 8% of independent bookstores in the United States. While the number is growing, many Black-owned bookstores continue to face financial instability and underinvestment.

That is one reason customers like Caitlyn Adams said Austen’s Shelf matters beyond just books.

“It is hard finding Black-owned bookstores in the United States and close by,” Adams said. “Knowing about another great Black-owned bookstore is incredibly important to me and for New Jersey communities.”

Herndon said independent bookstores offer something online retailers and corporate chains often cannot.

“People come in, and they really feel seen,” she said.

The challenges independent bookstores still face

Despite the recent growth, independent bookstores remain under pressure.

Herndon identified Amazon as one of the biggest challenges facing small bookstores today.

“Sometimes the corporate book market is just very, very strong,” she said. “You’re in competition with Amazon.”

She also pointed to pricing challenges.

“Books are very, very expensive,” Herndon said, explaining that bookstores often make about 40% on each book sold.

Across the industry, bookstore owners also face rising rent, staffing costs, shipping fees and inventory expenses. Many stores operate on thin profit margins and rely heavily on loyal customers and events to stay afloat.

“Independent bookstores currently face significant challenges, an uncertain economy, federal layoffs, the labor shortage, tariffs, free speech harassment, communities impacted by [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids, book bans and Amazon’s chokehold on the book industry,” Daniels said.

Still, Herndon believes readers are actively searching for spaces that feel more personal than online shopping.

“There’s nothing like supporting a small business because that money that you put in goes straight back into the community,” she said. “I think it also just creates a space for you to get to know your neighbors and the people that you live around every day.”

Out-of-state readers travel to Austen’s Shelf

That connection has resonated with readers well beyond New Jersey.

Caitlyn Adams, who lives in Baltimore, Maryland, said she traveled to New Jersey specifically to visit the mobile bookstore after following Herndon’s journey online.

“When I first heard about Charity Herndon’s mobile bookstore, I was super excited for her,” Adams said. “I drove from Baltimore, Maryland to support her first journey as a bookstore owner.”

Adams said Austen’s Shelf stood out because of its atmosphere and attention to detail.

“The trailer bookstore experience was an extremely unique concept to me,” she said. “Turning a small space into a dreamscape is something I was looking forward to seeing.”

Adams said she plans to return to New Jersey for the opening of the permanent storefront this summer.

For Herndon, the mission behind Austen’s Shelf has always been bigger than selling books.

“I think people are just looking for an excuse to meet new people, and get off of our phones, put them down, and bond over books,” she said.