Historic blues, childhood memories and a Golden Book shape a new chapter for Washington County readers

By Lora Delhom

When Sara E. Worsham thinks about opening her bookstore, the first book that comes to mind is not a novel or a classic.

It is a Golden Book.

“ ‘Mamaw’ would read me a Cookie Monster book, Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree by David Korr,” Worsham said, tearing up slightly behind the counter during the store’s opening. “I loved chocolate chip cookies. I still do. They’re still my favorite.”

For Worsham, the meaning was simple.

It was a book read aloud. It was time shared. It was comfort.

That memory — warm and rooted in story — feels fitting for a bookstore built on generational threads.

Worsham officially opened the shop this week in downtown Leland, creating a space designed not only for buying books, but for returning to them.

Her mother, Helen Worsham, a former and returning librarian, watched the evening unfold as familiar faces stopped in.

Mala Brooks approached the counter and exclaimed, “No way — Mama Worsham!”

“I loved going to the library growing up,” Brooks said. “It was where we met our friends. They had any book we wanted — before social media and phones. This recreates that for me. Except it’s more beautiful.”

Helen Worsham said her earliest memory of her daughter involves nightly reading.

“I just remember reading her stories every night,” she said. “She loved A Child’s Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa. We found it again in a pile of books we purchased. Sara took it home. It was so significant.”

Fairy tales were also favorites. “Sleeping Beauty and Snow White,” Helen said, smiling.

The store itself feels layered in that same sense of memory.

The interior design was created by Sarah Smythe, working alongside her mother, Sherry Smythe, and her brother Will Smythe, who served as contractor. The walls are wrapped in wallpaper reminiscent of antique marbled bookbinding — historic blues threaded with gold.

Impressionistic portraits in pinks, peaches, tans and browns emerge across the space, human and luminous.

“I really wanted the inside to feel like stepping into an old book,” Sarah Smythe said. “I knew I wanted a deep color. That blue was a gut choice.

I choose color by gut.”

The effect is immersive. Before a single title is opened, the room feels storied.

As families milled through the shop at sunset, Washington County Economic Alliance Executive Director Justin Burch stopped by with his two young children. Nearby, Sarah Smythe and Emily Lewis prepared for a mahjong game as the children eagerly reached for the tiles.

“I am so happy to have a place to come to and for my kids to be able to buy books in Washington County,” Burch said.

Across the room, Marshall Delhom, 10, pointed toward a 1,000-page gothic collection (The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft) he hopes to tackle on an upcoming road trip. A taller Lelander reached up and pulled it down for him.

The exchange — a child reaching, an adult helping — reflected the tone of the evening.

When asked what kind of story she hopes the store becomes for Leland, Worsham paused.

“One that lasts,” she said.

The opening feels less like a store and more like a door.

The bookstore plans to be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with possible Saturday adjustments as the schedule settles.

As the sun set behind downtown and patrons lingered beneath walls wrapped in historic blue, it was clear the gathering marked more than a retail opening.

It was a beginning.