Located in a shopping center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Flyleaf Books is a spacious and well-curated indie that has been offering a vast selection of new and used books for more than a decade.

Owner Jaime Fiocco opened the shop in November 2009, at a time when Chapel Hill was in need of an independent bookstore. Since then, it has become a local favorite, boasting an impressive inventory of news and used titles and a popular calendar of author appearances, school events, and book clubs. 

New books and bookish gifts greet visitors in the front room of the large shop. Themed displays are scattered around the space, from new releases to a wealth of staff-recommended books. Shelves of general fiction and other genres line the walls, with gorgeous posters of classic book cover art sitting atop them. 

Further into the shop is a large children’s and young adult section, which leads into a room of used books. Beyond that, tucked behind closed curtains when I was visiting, is a spacious spot for in-person events – the perfect location for author talks, story hours and more.

If you can’t make it into Flyleaf’s brick-and-mortar space, their active website includes an online store, a generous amount of book recommendations, an events calendar, and employee profiles – a nice way to further personalize the indie book shopping experience. The shop even offers an annual membership package, which provides members discounts and other perks throughout the year. 

While supporting indies through online shopping is a crucial component to their success, Flyleaf if certainly worth the trip. It’s a beautifully designed and well thought out example of a bookstore and community hub. And, while I wasn’t shopping at meal time, I was told by locals it’s surrounded by some of the best places to eat in the area.

Flyleaf Books is located at 752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Open daily.

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